The 70th season of Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival opened with a performance by Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project that, in a mere ten seconds, displayed the high artistry of the evening's star.
The first piece was Largo (2001), by Lucinda Childs to Arcangelo Corellis' Concerto Grossi Op. 6, danced solo by Baryshnikov. I saw instantly his genius and his mastery over his medium, and understood why he is so famous and revered. Largo is soft and lovely, with graceful balletic movements, and it couldnt have lasted longer than three minutes. It was a jewel of a piece, unassuming, simple, and profound.
Full dance review: Mikhail Baryshnikov opens 70th seson at Jacob's Pillow
As the curtain came up on the Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, the dancers’ sheer physical presence—powerful and magnetic—was breathtaking. An immediate second impression was that this was dancing that looked like a pleasure to perform—spirited, earthy and very sensual. For this company, who clearly take African dance movement as their core vocabulary, undulation was a part of the form, along with whirling arm motions, often swooping behind the back, feet and hands held at angles, not pointed or elegantly draped, and gesticulating head motions.
Full dance review: Ronald K. Brown/Evidence
This is a sacred, emotionally charged piece that moved Wednesday’s audience to loud, long, and deserving praise; some in the audience cried. Choreographer Lin Hwai-min created this piece “with great ease” after visiting Budhgaya, the site where Buddha reached enlightenment. Lin says the piece is “a work about practicing asceticism, the river’s mildness, and the quest for quietude.”
Full dance review: Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan
Gestures of intimacy and social interaction, jiggling epileptic movement next to graceful balletic sweeps, small women hoisting big men. These juxtapositions characterized the performance of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company at Jacob's Pillow.
The Company performed four pieces, most of them from 2002, some to the exquisite live music of the string ensemble Concertante.
Full dance review: Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company
As Jacob’s Pillow’s 70th season winds to a close, Alonzo King brings his LINES Ballet to Becket. Mr. King is single-handedly bringing ballet to contemporary dance.
Over time, ballet evolved into a reaction to gravity, and floating on air was the epitome of balletic form and feminine grace. The illusion of levitation when a ballerina goes en pointe seems like magic and has been used to great effect in the world of traditional ballet. King’s dancers use ballet’s range of motion and gesture, the balance and extension of the classical form, but they also claim the idiosyncratic and sometimes disturbing aspects of human character. Classical ballet is otherworldly, but LINES is firmly set on the ground, in the sensual world.
Full dance review: Alonzo King, LINES Ballet
Exhuberance, irreverance, humor, fun. The Mark Morris Dance Group is presenting ground-breaking work, yet entertaining, yet thought provoking. Morris choreographs to Schumann and takes any hint of the old or academic out of it; he helps his audience see the music’s laughter, delight, even goofiness.
Full dance review: Mark Morris Dance Group
Twist’s Petrushka is a sensory treat—beautiful, unusual, live music, and entrée into a small world of visual opulence. An enormous, ornate, gilded frame surrounds the stage, and there are richly hued curtains hanging within it. This sets up an atmosphere of fairy tale, which is enhanced by the entrance of Julia and Irina Elinka, identical twins and marvelous pianists. As the curtain rose, they played Stravinsky’s "A Sonata For Two Pianos."
Full dance review: Twist's Petrushka
Shadow’s Child is a narrative piece in which modern dance is combined with singing, speaking, drums, puppetry, jump rope, traditional African dance and street dance. It is the result of collaboration between The Urban Bush Women, Artistic Director Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, and the National Song and Dance Company of Mozambique, directed by David Abilio. The warmth and power of the communication using these varied forms of expression is impressive. Shadow’s Child moves so smoothly between the separate spheres of high art, street dance, and folk art that the boundaries dissolve. The story is the thing.
Full dance review: Urban Bush Women
Momix’s 1991 evening-length piece Passion was extremely well-received at it’s Jacob’s Pillow premiere this week. Moses Pendleton’s ensemble gives the final performance on the big stage at the Pillow this summer, and it’s an ending with a bang.
Full dance review: Momix performs Passion