DANCE REVIEW 'DANCE PARTY!'
A Portrait of the Big City, Painted in Little Moments
By ROSLYN SULCAS- New York Times
Published: April 14, 2007
Speed-dial the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts right away:
there is just tonight left to see Larry Keigwin’s “Bolero NYC,” a
joyful and breathtakingly clever celebration of the city and its people
that is probably the most inexpensive legal fun to be had for miles
around.
“Bolero” is a new work, commissioned by the Skirball Center as part of
“Dance Party!,” a well-conceived double bill of Chris Elam/Misnomer
Dance Theater and Keigwin & Company, presented on Thursday night.
“Cast-Iron Crutches,” a five-minute opening solo by the tall, gawky Mr.
Elam, offered a distillation of his oddly compelling physical style as
he moved from one self-bound position to another — hands joined between
legs, torso curved over knees. Set to cello strains by John Williams,
it is utterly simple and genuinely strange, a pure emanation of Mr.
Elam’s corporeal sense of self.
“Future Perfect,” also commissioned by the Skirball Center, transfers
Mr. Elam’s own odd physicality to four other dancers (Brynne
Billingsley, Jen Harmer, Coco Karol and Luke Wiley) who cavort like
children or clowns to a musical mix and do a fine job of conveying the
clumsy attempts of human beings to connect to one another.
We were back to the reality of a Starbucks on every corner with Mr.
Keigwin’s “Caffeinated,” a hilarious, jittery mix of aerobics,
cheerleading, ballet and boxing that seems to use every note of Philip
Glass’s “Glasspiece No. 3.” It was well performed by nine
coffee-cup-holding students from New York University’s Tisch School of
the Arts, where the work had its premiere two weeks ago.
“Natural Selection,” made in 2004 to insistently rhythmic music by
Michael Gordon, offered another aspect of Mr. Keigwin’s work. Dark and
dramatic, it could do with a little editing, but shows off this
choreographer’s theatrical gift for the unexpected.
There was no doubt, however, that “Bolero NYC” was the tour de force of
the evening. In addition to his six dancers, Mr. Keigwin (assisted by
Nicole Wolcott, who also collaborated on “Caffeinated”) used 46
civilians of all shapes and ages to create an entertaining city
portrait.
To Ravel’s hypnotic music, the performers read newspapers, walk dogs,
talk on cellphones, flirt, kiss, take care of children. There are
moments of unison, moments of aloneness, moments of fantasy. (Everyone
gets a trip up the red carpet.) It is funny, touching and a masterly
piece of choreographic organization. Go.
“Dance Party!” runs through tonight at the Skirball Center for the
Performing Arts, 566 LaGuardia Place, at Washington Square South,
Greenwich Village; (212) 279-4200.
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