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I called the first one of these “What I’m Seeing” but realized this won’t always make sense, since what I wish I could see does not always align with what I actually see (case in point: I’ll be out of town for next weekend’s performances of Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE). So I’ve settled for now on “Danceletter Picks.” It could change again!
We’re heading into peak fall dance season, when scheduling is truly a puzzle, at least if going to dance shows is part of your job. The weekend of Oct. 19-21, in particular, has a lot going on; I would see everything if I could. Here’s a little synopsis of my top recommendations, if you want the quick version. For more details, keep on reading:
Coming up:
E-Moves: Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE at Harlem Stage, Oct. 13-14
Ayano Elson, Shadows Later at PAGEANT, Oct. 18-20
Gillian Walsh, Wilderness at Danspace Project, Oct. 19-21
Lyon Opera Ballet, Lucinda Childs’ Dance at New York City Center, Oct. 19-21
Rone & (La)Horde, Room with a View + An Evening with (La)Horde: With Lucinda Childs & Lasseindra Ninja at NYU Skirball, Oct. 20-21 + 25-26
Watch from anywhere:
August Pace: 1989-2019, available on Ovid.tv beginning Oct. 10
Coming up:
E-Moves: Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE at Harlem Stage. Oct. 13-14. For its 40th anniversary, Harlem Stage is presenting an extended edition of its signature dance series, E-Moves, featuring artists who have been especially integral to the institution’s history. The series kicks off with Brown’s Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn–based group in works that do what he does best, intertwining elements of African, Afro-Caribbean, and modern dance with undercurrents of prayer and protest, all of it lusciously musical. The program includes three excerpts from longer pieces: March from Lessons (1995), Upside Down from Destiny (1998), and Palo y Machete from One Shot (2007). Spotlighting a younger generation, Brown invites the choreographer Joya Powell to share a work alongside his, to be performed by her Movement of the People Dance Company.
Ayano Elson, Shadows Later at PAGEANT. Oct. 18-20. I’m only partly joking when I say that when I go to PAGEANT, the new-ish East Williamsburg performance space, I feel like an elder. (I’m 37.) It’s a young crowd! And the place is always packed. I don’t think I’ve seen a show there that wasn’t sold-out, with the front rows spilling out onto the floor. It’s fun. I’m not super familiar with Ayano Elson’s work, but after her recent entrancing performance in Matthew Lutz-Kinoy’s Filling Station (choreographed by Niall Jones), in which she stumbled across the pavement of a Greenwich Village Mobil station, chugging cans of Liquid Death and tossing the dregs over her shoulder, I’m so interested to see what she’s been up to herself. Shadows Later, her first multi-performer evening-length piece, features lighting by Liz Charky, music by Matt Evans, and dancing by Amelia Heintzelman and Jade Manns. (Originally the dates for this show were Oct. 19-20, but it looks like an extra night has been added. Thank goodness!)
Gillian Walsh, Wilderness at Danspace Project. Oct. 19-21. I’ve never met an artist who likes writing promotional copy for their own work. Some find alternatives. By way of describing her latest dance, Gillian Walsh offers an allegory of sorts:
“I was led into the wilderness. I was alone but longing and celestial love stayed. I waited. After a long period of stillness movement emerged from the groundswell. God spoke through my body.”
I’ve written about Walsh’s work a few times and have always felt drawn to its carefully wrought slowness and stillness, an alchemy of the practical and mystical. Each dance is a deep meditation, both testing and rewarding patience. Co-produced with the New York City Players (with whom she has performed in recent years; she stole the show as the blasé bartender in Field of Mars), Wilderness is her second full-length work at St. Mark’s Church. She called the first, Moon Fate Sin, “a black metal liturgical dance.” But that was 2017, and a lot can change in six years. I’m intrigued by the 6pm start time for Wilderness: earlier than usual for Danspace. Two theories: 1) it’s on the longer side (Walsh’s 2019 Fame Notions lasted three hours, during which viewers could come and go); 2) it makes use of the natural early-evening light. Maybe some of both.
Lyon Opera Ballet, Lucinda Childs’ Dance at New York City Center. Oct. 19-21. If you haven’t seen this, you must. If you have, it’s always worth seeing again. Childs’ arresting minimalism is on full display in this enduring work from 1979, which opens Dance Reflections, an eight-week, multi-venue festival sponsored by Van Cleef & Arpels — and one reason for the plethora of dance in NYC this fall. When Dance is done right, its magic arises not just from the geometry of Childs’ choreography, here performed by 17 dancers of the Lyon Opera Ballet, but from the movement’s oneness with Philip Glass’s score and Sol LeWitt’s projections. (Scheduling note: If you, like me, are trying to squeeze a lot into this weekend, consider the 2pm Saturday matinee.)
Rone & (La)Horde, Room with a View (Oct. 20-21) + An Evening with (La)Horde: With Lucinda Childs & Lasseindra Ninja (Oct. 25-26) at NYU Skirball. Also part of the Dance Reflections festival, these two programs introduce New York to (La)Horde, the team at the helm of Ballet National de Marseille (Marine Brutti, Jonathan Debrouwer, and Arthur Harel). They are French. They are the artistic directors of choreography for Madonna’s Celebration Tour. And they are against hierarchy — in dance company leadership (when they speak to the press, they speak as one) and among dance forms. I don’t really know what to expect, but I’m intrigued by the hype.
Watch from anywhere:
The documentary film August Pace: 1989-2019, directed and edited by the former Merce Cunningham dancer Daniel Madoff, follows the process of reconstructing Cunningham’s dance of the same name, 30 years after its premiere. Original cast members reunite to pass on the dance to a new generation, and Madoff, through an unobtrusive lens, allows us to peer in on this intimate, vulnerable process of recollection and transmission. The film, which juxtaposes new and archival footage, will be available on the subscription video-on-demand service Ovid.tv — joining a trove of other wonderful dance films — beginning Tuesday, Oct. 10. (Ovid offers a 7-day free trial and is currently offering 50% off its annual subscription price.)
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Stay tuned for more of my recommendations in two weeks — and your monthly list of dance shows (for late October and November), arriving on Thursday, Oct. 19.