This past Sunday, Ballet in Cinema projected dance on film screens around the world.
In case you missed it, here is a clip from the broadcast of the Bolshoi Ballet‘s Sleeping Beauty. Svetlana Zakharova and David Hallberg perform the Act II pas.
Erica Lynette Edwards in "Strange Fuit". Photo by Sasha Fornari.
On Thursday, November 3rd, a group of Joffrey dancers performed in the black box studio theater at the Joffrey Tower to benefit local non-profit EMBARC. A New Movement was an evening of in-house choreography, plus a duet from the Joffrey rep with a reception and silent auction following in an adjacent studio. The benefit performance was delayed temporarily due to bad weather and to let everyone in the theater (it was full), but once things got started, it went swimmingly. A portion of the front row was roped off for the guests of honor – three students from Harper High School that are part of the EMBARC program which empowers students from socially and economically isolated areas through mentoring and cultural interactions. After a few words from co-founders Imran Khan (Executive Director) and January Miller (Program Manager), the show began.
New works created by Joffrey dancers Derrick Agnoletti, Shane Urton, Aaron Rogers and Michael Smith were shown along with a premiere from Joffrey Ballet Master Nicolas Blanc. Agnoletti’s dramatic African-influenced Incantation started the show danced by students from the Strobel Step Up program. If these kids were nervous dancing on a bill with professionals, it didn’t show. Agnoletti’s other offering Strange Fruit: Solo of the Disinherited danced beautifully by Erica Lynette Edwards was one of the highlights of the night. The long skirt and lyrical moves were Ailey-esque and her emotional intensity added a personal touch to the piece. During a pause in the music, she let out an audible sigh/cry that had the audience rapt. Fabrice Calmels and Victoria Jaiani danced a duet from Edwaard Liang’s Age of Innocence, a gorgeous work that was well worth the price of the $100 ticket to see it up close and personal. What struck me most was that it was performed in this small studio theater as if it was on stage at the Auditorium Theatre. To them, there was no difference – they gave it their all. Another choreographic highlight was Michael Smith’s “_________” (and yes, I gave him crap about not having a title!). Set to music by Arvo Pärt, the work for six dancers was earthy and beautiful inspired by a quote from the book of Revelations. The dancers seemed most honest in pedestrian moves, particularly a recurring theme where they held a hand to the forehead of a fellow dancer following them on or off stage. The dancers took clothes on and off on stage with all but one ended up “naked”, which warranted a joke from one of the EMBARC students after the show. Shout outs to Elizabeth Hansen (strong and clean) and Aaron Rogers (I could watch him do anything – he’s like butter!).
Anastacia Holden & Derrick Agnoletti in "Purple People". Photo by Sasha Fornari.
After the performance, Miller told the audience how you can see Willis Tower from Harper High School, but most of the students had never been downtown, had never been out of their neighborhood and after starting with EMBARC programming their attendance and grades improved. The three students in attendance came up to speak. Terence, once overcoming his nerves, was eloquent telling how “you can learn things you’ve never done before” and declaring that most kids think Batman and Superman are super heroes, but his super heroes are Mrs. Miller and Mr. Khan.
Svetlana Zaharova as Princess Aurora. Photo by Bausova.
This Sunday, Ballet in Cinema – Emerging Pictures will broadcast the Bolshoi Ballet performing Sleeping Beauty live from Moscow. The classic ballet choreographed by Marius Petipa was revised by Yuri Grigorovich in 1973 and stars Svetlana Zakharova as Pricess Aurora and David Hallberg in his debut as Prince Désiré. Hallberg recently departed American Ballet Theater to be the first foreign dancer invited to join the Bolshoi.
The live in HD broadcast runs 185 minutes and includes one intermission, so stock up on popcorn and settle in for good v. evil, fairies, a royal love story and wedding with your favorite storybook characters. For local theaters and times go to: balletincinema.com
MCDC dancers Rashaun Mitchell & Andrea Webber in "Antic Meet". Photo by Yi-Chun Wu.
This weekend, Merce Cunningham Dance Company (MCDC) comes to Chicago. The two shows, co-presented by the Dance Center at Columbia College and the Harris Theater, mark the second to last stop on the company’s two-year Legacy Tour performing works from Cunningham’s 70-year career. Bonnie Brooks, former chair and current faculty member (on sabbatical) at Columbia College’s Dance Department, has been traveling with the company and will be documenting the company’s experience for the Legacy Plan. Her background and extensive knowledge of his work make her the perfect person for the job. I spoke with Brooks via phone last week about the tour, his legacy and the upcoming performances.
How did you get involved with the Legacy Tour?
I have a long history with Merce and the company. I first met Merce in the 1980s when I was working with the National Endowment for the Arts. I’ve kept up with the company in various ways over the years. When I came to Chicago and we began to present them, that sort of furthered the relationship and I started writing and lecturing on Merce’s work and they started inviting me to go to different engagements with them and do pre-performance talks, interview Merce, help out with various things. After Merce died (2009) and they determined they were going to go on the Legacy Tour, they realized part of what they needed to do was document it, document the whole story of the Legacy Plan. They felt that because of my history with the company, my friendship with Merce and something of the distance that I had because I wasn’t immediately employed by the company, that I would be a good choice to do that. So they invited me to join.
Is this directly related to why you took a sabbatical? Did you take time off so you could be on the tour?
No. Actually, that was another piece of the story that was one of those marvelous coincidences in life. I made the decision in 2008 when I renewed my contract to chair the dept at the Dance Center, that was going to be my final three years as chair. At that time Merce was still living and there was no influence at all between my decision and what has happened. Since then, the college decided to give me a year-long sabbatical when I stepped down and that very neatly coincided with when the company wanted me to start traveling with them on a regular basis. It’s one of those wonderful accidents.
What exactly are you doing on the tour?
It varies from engagement to engagement. Sometimes they ask me to pre or post-performance talks or introduce open rehearsals, things like that. Sometimes I’m just there to observe what’s happening. I’ve taken pictures. It really depends on what the presenter has asked, what residency activities have been put together. One of the things that has happened as a result of me traveling with them, which I think was an intention on their part, it has given me a chance to get the perspective of many, many people on the Legacy Tour, the Legacy Plan, the kind of radical decision the company has made to close its doors…that’s given me a lot to work with in terms of what I’ll be writing after the tour.
Were you instrumental in getting them here?
Yes. When I was chair of the department, I was very actively involved with the program. We had negotiated that they would come two years ago. We negotiated it before Merce died that they would come and do events at our theater, previous to that we’d always presented them at the Harris Theater…and then Merce died. They began to book the Legacy Tour and I said we have to bring them back one more time. We were going to have them in November, but decided to have them in the second part of the tour, which is wonderful because they’re very near the end of the almost 40-city, two-year tour.
Now that it’s so close the end of the tour, are people getting more emotional?
Yes. It’s becoming much more real to everyone now that we’re close to the end. I think the place that hit us the most vividly was in London. We were in London about a month ago and the final night, I think everybody in the entire theater – in the audience and on stage – was in tears. We realized this was the last appearance in a city that historically has been very hospitable to Merce’s work. The audience was on its feet shouting “thank you!” It just really hit us that we wouldn’t be back again, at least not as the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. The thing that’s been so profound about this is realizing that this is the final generation of dancers that Merce trained and chose himself. These are the people, in my opinion, that are finishing his long, artistic project. There’s such a poignancy and a beauty to that and I think in London we realized, we’re beyond seeing the work, this is now really the goodbyes.
Since you’re so familiar with his work, can you tell me about the pieces that are going to be presented here in Chicago?
Friday night, we’re doing a repertory evening…a piece called “Squaregame”, “Quartet”, which has five people in it, and then “Antic Meet”, which is a piece from 1958 that Merce made. “Squaregame” is a very playful piece. There are beautiful sections, but it’s almost like you’re on a playground with mischievous children in terms of the fun that occurs and there are big duffel bags on the stage that they throw around and hide behind. It’s really a delightful piece. Then you go to a completely different end of the spectrum with “Quartet”, which is kind of dark and moody. There’s a male part in it that Merce danced originally and two other males and two females. You’re watching the interaction between this group of dancers and this individual character. It’s very lyrical, but in a very dark way, but it’s beautiful. It’s easy, because of the complexities of Merce’s work, its easy to lose the fact that there is enormous beauty in it. And this is one of his more beautiful pieces, in my opinion. The last piece on the rep is “Antic Meet”, sort of a spoof. In it’s eight different sections. There’s a central character. It’s an anomaly in Merce’s body of work in some ways because there is some acting involved. There are references to Vaudeville, to every day life, to tap, to ballet…there are fairly clear references to his period with Martha Graham.
The second evening is one of my very favorites of Merce’s piece. It’s called Roaratorio. It’s an hour-long work that was originally envisioned by John Cage. Cage created a soundscape that was an homage to James Joyce and his final works…Finnigan’s Wake. One of the things Cage did was go to Ireland and sample sounds from places that were referenced in Finnigan’s Wake. So this was a rare occasion where the sound information pre-dated everything else. John had hoped Merce would eventually make some kind of dance using the score. For several years, Merce didn’t think that was possible. He has built in a number of what appear to be Irish jigs. There are a lot of relational information in it, couples and groups relating to one another. He described one as a group or family traveling from one place to another, which is what they do if you watch the full arc of the piece. I think it’s the best example of Merce’s sheer love for dancing. It ‘s a joy to watch from start to finish.
In your mind, what is it or was it about Merce and his work that made him such an icon?
I think that Merce represents and, in fact, literally is the single most turning point in 20th century modern dance. Merce took a lot of the existing conventions that were handed to him in both the modern and ballet world…and because of the combination of existing things that he did, he stayed in modern dance, he stayed in a concert dance format, he put together an ensemble of dancers, he trained them and he worked with them consistently for many decades…those are all sort of conventions. In terms of the content of the work itself, he just broke so many rules. He advanced narratives, he separated the dance from the music, he choreographed in silence, he and John (Cage) created this whole new approach to put dance, music and visual information together in a performance context. He just did so much that was inconoclastic. He turned the use of space on its head. He created an egalitarian circumstance for dancers instead of a hierarchy of some kind where there were special people and less special people and the back up people. The list goes on and on. The bottom line is that Merce set a whole new direction of what was possible. It was through him and the gateway of his work that the whole postmodern movement came through. If there hadn’t been a Merce, I don’t know what postmoderism in dance would’ve been. He opened a whole new direction for dance.
Merce Cunningham Dance Company – The Legacy Tour
November 18 & 19, Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph, 312.334.7777
Tickets start at $25
Birthday gal!
Broadway legend, dancer, singer, actress and choreographer Ann Reinking turns 62 today. Reinking is in town helping Thodos Dance Chicago (TDC) rehearse for the return of last season’s premiere The White City: Chicago’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, which they are performing this Saturday at the McAninch Arts Center at the College of Du Page (tickets: 630.942.4000).
Last night I had the unbelievable luck and privilege of being invited (thinks to Jay Kelly of LC Williams and Assoc who handles PR for TDC) to a private gathering at Artistic Director Melissa Thodos and her husband Rick Johnston’s home in the Gold Coast in honor of Ms. Reinking. The small gathering of twenty or so people included a few TDC board members, Emmy-winning filmaker Chris Olsen and an array of Chicago dance legends: Ron De Jesús, Cheryl Mann, Michael Anderson, Stephanie Martinez Bennit and Broadway and Chicago theater veteran Mitzi Hamilton. I especially enjoyed having a fun, “off the record” conversation over wine with Hubbard Street director Glenn Edgerton and was honored to sing Happy Birthday to Ms. Reinking (we joked that she was cringing inside at the group being so off key).
Many thanks to Melissa, Rick and Jay – and a happy birthday to Ann!
It’s seems our beloved Mayor Emanuel has been busy showing his love for dance. On the heels of declaring this past Monday Bill Kurtis & Donna La Pietra Day for their contributions to the city’s arts and non-profit scene, he comes out with another proclamation making Friday, November 18, 2011 MERCE CUNNINGHAM DAY in Chicago!
This is to coincide with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company who will be in town November 18 and 19 performing at the Harris Theater (co-presented by the Dance Center at Columbia College) on the second to last stop on their Legacy Tour which kicked off two years ago.
Flamenco Chicago, a local dance studio (2914 W. Belmont) dedicated to the art of flamenco, is now offering all male classes. Ensemble Español dancer Sean Arana will be instructing the six-week session ($95) which begins next Tuesday, November 15th and is scheduled for 8:15 – 9:15pm weekly.
Advanced registration required. For more information contact: rosetta@flamencochicago.com
River North Dance Chicago (RNDC) performed their fall engagement at the Harris Theater over the weekend with a rep of seven diverse dances. The company opened with what has become its signature piece, Sherry Zunker’s Evolution of a Dream. Strong and consistent, it was the perfect opener for the show. If you’re familiar with RNDC, you noticed quite a few unfamiliar faces. Four new company dancers took the stage on Friday night with another one out due to a broken foot. Dream and the ball piece (Charles Moulton’s Nine Person Precision Ball Passing), which since they don’t move from the waste down borderlines on dance for me, were the cleanest pieces in the show. A lovely trio in Al Sur Del Sur featuring Jessica Wolfrum, Tucker Knox and Ahmad Simmons and the ever-stunning Train solo by Hanna Brictson were other stand outs. Spotty unison, stumbles, wobbles and a handful of missed lifts had me witnessing an extreme rarity: RNDC had an off night.
I’ve been watching RNDC deliver strong, solid seemingly perfect performances for almost 15 years, so the small flubs took me by surprise. This is no condemnation of their talents – they are multitude – but this wasn’t their best showing. The much-anticipated company premiere of Daniel Ezralow’s SUPER STRAIGHT is coming down opened the second half of the show (the perfect spot for it). For those of us in the audience that had seen the original, and there were many, just hearing the opening note and seeing the hanging bags with the dancers inside brought back a flood of memories. Fair or not, the RNDC dancers were dancing with the ghosts of the original cast with them on the stage. A dapper Michael Gross in his suit brought Ron De Jesús (who was in the audience) rolling across the stage. Wolfrum in her black dress had Sandi Cooksey defying gravity, hovering inches above the floor. Twenty two years after the premiere, these five dancers were bringing back a beloved (by many, especially me) piece and I wanted them to BRING IT! On Friday, it seemed they brought a little and saved some for later. Perhaps the excitement of seeing it for the very first time back in ’89 helped to create the illusion that vaulted the original cast to rock star status in the dance scene? Maybe it was the difference between learning it fresh and resetting it? It could any number of reasons that it didn’t hold the same sway with me this time. I have no doubt that RNDC will continue to grow and evolve with this work, but this time out, it didn’t live up to the hype. Especially my own.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has officially declared today – November 7, 2011 – to be Bill Kurtis and Donna La Pietra Day in Chicago! The couple receive this honor, along with the JUBA! Award at Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s Jubalee Gala tonight for their long careers and leadership in the non-profit and arts communities. Chicago Commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Michelle T. Boone, will be on site this evening to read the full proclamation.
Congratulations!
Tonight at the Joffrey Tower, Joffrey Ballet dancers will premiere in-house works benefitting a local charity. EMBARC, co-founded by Joffrey dancer Anastacia “Stacia” Holden and two teachers at Harper High School in Englewood Imran Khan and January Miller, works to empower underprivileged youth by expanding their education to outside of school activities and cultural experiences. Through mentoring programs, field trips to shows or participating at a local garden, EMBARC strives to empower with skills to improve the students’ future. A quote by Antoine de Saint Exupery on the charity’s homepage reflects the core of their mission: “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea”.
Joffrey dancer Derrick Agnoletti (Holden’s bff) is also on the board of directors and will participating in tonight’s event as a performer and choreographer. “I like the fact that EMBARC is providing a space for choreographers of a world-class company to deliver in-house work all for a good cause,” says Agnoletti. “I’m grateful for the Joffrey being so passionate about taking part in this.” Everyone has been hard at work, some since this summer, creating works and the environment for a special, intimate evening of dance. Agnoletti and Holden will dance a duet by Joffrey Ballet Master Nicolas Blanc and Agnoletti has created a solo for fellow dancer Erica Lynette Edwards set to Strange Fruit by Nina Simone. “Erica dances with her heart,” he says. “She exudes a quality that i feel is very rare in dancers today. She is able to touch an audience with her movement. She can pull people in and drive them to feel something.”
Go see the Joffrey dancers strut their creative stuff for a great cause. A reception will follow the performance. For more information, please visit: embarcchicago.org
Joffrey Ballet & EMBARC present A New Movement
Nov 3 at 630pm, $100, Joffrey Tower, 10 E. Randolph, 4th fl