So much more than solos, 2/5/10

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Danspace Project's i get lost: An Evening of Solos curated by Ralph Lemon, with Judith Sanchez Ruiz and Souleymane Badolo.

http://www.thirteen.org/sundayarts/blog/performance/so-much-more-than-solos/795/

After watching i get lost: An Evening of Solos (February 4-6), part of the platform curated by choreographer Ralph Lemon at Danspace Project, I wondered why more solos aren’t paired on programs. Then again, that’s part of the allure of this new series, to allow accomplished artists to juxtapose other unique artists in ways that reveal so much more than if they were isolated. By nature, a soloist is both form and content, and so can be very difficult to execute, but both Judith Sánchez Ruíz and Souleymane Badolo excelled in the medium.

Sánchez Ruíz, from Cuba, performed And They Forgot To Love. Instantly striking was her costume, which appeared to be a lace-front, sheer-back top, when it was actually white tape applied carefully, her back bare above a black lace skirt. This immediately set forth the idea that our perception was one thing, reality another.Sánchez Ruíz didn’t do anything particularly revolutionary, yet at the same time, nothing was really familiar about the flat, parting palms, the crab-like sliding in a yoga bridge, or pushing herself backward on her thighs, back arched. She managed to create a half-hour of dance that seemed entirely new. Movements that seemed related to gesture didn’t actually carry any overt meaning or function. She performed in silence, until toward the end that we heard a woman’s voice speaking a monologue in Spanish; it eventually changed to English, a possible metaphor for geographical transplantation, or gradual enlightenment.

Dance Alfresco, 8/6/09

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Dance Alfresco—Cunningham, Jonah Bokaer and Judith Sanchez Ruiz, Nicholas Leichter and Monstah Black

http://www.thirteen.org/sundayarts/blog/performance/dance-alfresco/740/

This year, on paper, Evening Stars looked a little sad. The lineup had been reduced to one company, albeit Merce Cunningham Dance Company, and just three shows. In past years, the dance series, co-presented by the River to River Festival and the Joyce Theater, has featured a number of notable companies over the course of a week, or several themed programs. The venue moved to the open lawn of Rockefeller Park in Battery Park City, from a more ceremonious proscenium stage farther downtown. And overshadowing everything was the recent passing of Merce Cunningham.

And yet, as it should, art transcended all. Two smallish platforms separated by a path of about 50 feet were used continuously by the dancers. The Event comprised many short segments of old and new work set to music by David Behrman and Stephan Moore. We could position ourselves much closer of the dancers (or much farther away) than in a theater. We could process the constant nonverbal communication between partners, who checked one another with their eyes, their hands, whatever body parts touched. We saw the dancers make minute adjustments to their balances, their hard-working muscles trembling at times. We could more easily read the shifting dynamics between segments, the humor that arises from certain physical situations, the difficulty in maintaining stillness. The movement was different on each platform, demanding some peripheral viewing. The weather was ideal; the blue sky and setting sun provided clear, strong lighting—a live experience that matched the amped up mediation of HD TV and 3D films that we’ve become used to.