FALL FOR DANCE PROGRAM #3

Review by Celia Ipiotis

All Photos by Steven Pisano

At intermission, a lady mused, “That never happens to me when I’m walking through the park.” She was referring to the romantic Pas De Deux from Le Parc by Angelin Preljocaj exquisitely performed by Hannah O’Neil & Hugo Marchand of the Paris Opera Ballet. Originally only scheduled to perform Jerome Robbins’ classic Afternoon of a Faun, they agreed to perform an additional duet. 

Easily drifting from side to side, the attractive dancers elongate their limbs into extensions of desire. Set to Mozart, they merge into lifts allowing her to float while balanced on his uplifted hand. What prevents this ballet from falling into the category of Cirque du Soleil acrobatics is the intent the dancers impress into each gesture. When O’Neil pulls Marchand into a full body clasp, he lifts her slowly up until her mouth matches his. Lips lock while he raises her off the ground, spinning around, their white loose fitting costumes unfurling. The audience gasps.

O’Neil and Marchand return to awe the audience in Robbins’ universally acclaimed Afternoon of a Faun to a score by Claude Debussy.Set in a  dance studio, the male enters first, gazing at his lovely image in an imagined mirror. Investing each movement with single-minded integrity, he lies down, raises one leg, flexes his foot, turns it out then lowers it to the floor next to the other leg.

That alone catches everyone’s breath. Mysteriously joining him, O’Neil enters the room, toes pricking the floor intently while catching his attention. For a bit, they execute their own routines, checking the mirror for corrections.

Soon they are drawn together, merging into partnered attitudes and arabesques, all the while studying their gorgeous images until she disappears and he remains on the floor in a final exhale of appreciation.

Known for her aesthetically crisp and rigorous choreography, Lucinda Childs’ ThreeDances (for prepared piano) John Cage is invigorated by the Gibney Dance Company. Dancers hop, skip and slide in parallel lines that shift from front to back. At measured intervals, one or two dancers peel off the end of a line to  initiate another rhythmic pattern.

Excellently performed by the Dance Company, in this highly aerobic piece, the male and female dancers execute the same steps, connecting and reconnecting in an accumulation of steps that form a kinesthetic, never-ending round.

Smoke seeps through the darkened space drawing the dancers into a village vibrating to the same beat in Knoname Artist|Roderick George’s The Missing Fruit (Part I). City Center commissioned this work from George performed by Contemporary Dance. 

Deep kneed moves ground the dancers, knitting them into intimate and large groups expressing  “a celebration of the Black experience in America.” Stretching across the space, dancers cause the theater to undulate with physical sensations. Bodies pop into signature club dance accents, West African contractions and clean, modern dance technique.

The  pulsting music by slowdanger increases the intrigue and attraction to the tightly designed piece, encompassing all corners of the stage. Due to the deep shadows formed in the high contrast lighting by Connor Sale, some of the complex movements are veiled in darkness– like the dancer standing on the ball of his foot, who raises his back leg in arabesque and then rotates a quarter without ever lowering his heel or flinching.

Clearly a promisng new voice, it will be interesting to see future works by this duo.

EYE ON THE ARTS, NY — Celia Ipiotis