Fall for Dance
Performa alumni Marten Spangberg, to be featured in the Movement Research Fall Festival
It’s my favorite time of year–most NYC dance venues have just released their Fall 2008 programming! My “don’t miss” picks are below–but please, feel free to argue with me or leave your own picks in the comments…
CATCH at the Chocolate Factory, Sep 16
The Chocolate Factory’s website mysteriously has no information about the next installment of this popular bimonthly program of short works, but its curators, Andrew Dinwiddie and Jeff Larson, always seem to put together a terrific show.
(Another “don’t miss” is Andrew Dinwiddie’s upcoming solo show at the Ontological-Hysteric Theater, The Accursed Items, running Sep 3-6)
Trajal Harrell at Dance Theater Workshop, Oct 15-18
Trajal Harrell’s last New York presentation, Showpony (2007), had a lot of interesting content, and this new work promises even more–it’s inspired by composer Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, which he wrote from a Nazi prison camp during World War II.
Plus, in DTW’s new “10 Questions” section (in which they ask the same 10 questions of every choreographer they’re presenting), Trajal gives the best answer I’ve seen yet:
9. Who would win in a fight between Merce Cunningham and Paul Taylor?
Martha Graham
So true.
Dada Von Bzdulow Dance Theater at Danspace Project, Oct 2-4
“Who are they,” you might say, “And why are they a pick?”
a) They’re from Poland, a country due to experience a massive cultural renaissance any day now, following in the wake of fellow hip Eastern European nations the Czech Republic and Romania.
b) The title of their piece, Factor T., refers to “Polish novelist, philosopher, and poet Stefan Themerson’s theory of the eternal tragedy”–pretty funny!
c) How often does Danspace actually show dance theater? It’s worth going out to if only to support this breath of diversity in their programming.
The Movement Research Fall Festival at Danspace Project, Dec 4-6 & 11-16
Featuring an all-star list of downtown dance luminaries as well as several Performa alumni: Mårten Spångberg, Jennifer Walshe, and, as curatorial adviser for the festival alongside Jennifer Monson, Zeena Parkins! The first week of the festival “showcases nine contemporary artists who will develop scores in response to conversations and game playing with the renowned Steve Paxton. This performance investigation, which explores conceptual and spatial thinking, takes it cue from Paxton’s daily Chinese Checkers game with his neighbor, during which the players continually rearrange the pattern of the board to keep their strategies alive and spontaneous.”
An entire festival dedicated to Steve Paxton’s daily Chinese Checkers game–what’s not to love?
During the second week of the festival, a special “don’t miss” for what I think might be the long overdue US debut (please correct me if I’m wrong here) of Portugese choreographer Vera Mantero.
Also of note:
Bebe Miller & Company at Dance Theater Workshop, Nov 11-15
Sally Gross & Company at Joyce SoHo, Nov 13-16
Limon Dance Company at the Joyce, Dec 2-7
This year’s season will include two masterpieces–Anna Sokolow’s Rooms (1955) and Jose Limon’s The Traitor (1954), a gripping condemnation of McCarthyism. But then again–you can’t beat the stunning black-and-white cinematography in the film version of The Traitor, and tickets to the Joyce are like $200!
August 27th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Wow, this is an awesome list one can refer to for a long time, thanks a lot Lana! Can’t wait to see the Movement Research Fall Festival! By the way, their Judson Church Season begins on September 15th, so if anybody fancy a free evening with Bea Gold, Adrienn Hód and Márta Ladjánszki- I’ll see you there