FALL FOR DANCE PROGRAM 3

The Fall For Dance Festival returns to New York City Center
bringing together artists and companies from across the
dance world. Program 3 features Juan Tomás de la Molía’s
Bulería de la Molía, Lior Tavori’s Crust, and The Royal Ballet
in Loughlan Prior’s Paganini – The First Virtuoso.

Juan Tomás de la Molía, an acclaimed flamenco dancer from
Trebujena, Spain, begins the evening with Bulería de la Molía.
Molía entrances the audience with quicker-than-light stomps,
taps, and claps. Vocally accompanied by Sebastián Sánchez,
José Astarida, and Juan Núñez Peña, the performers create a
beautiful, celebratory, party-like atmosphere, playfully
interjecting as Molía claps along with them.

His movement shifts between moments of stillness and
sudden bursts of intricate footwork, his feet striking the floor
with remarkable speed while his upper body remains loose
and expressive. At times, he uses his beige suit jacket as an
extension of his movement. Molía’s footwork is truly
entrancing and a spectacle to behold.

The following piece, Crust, choreographed by Lior Tavori,
makes its U.S. premiere. Tavori describes the piece: “ Not
everyone will be taken to the future. Crust is a work about
Israel and the world…” The piece begins with an ominous
voiceover, including phrases such as, “You have a birthday so
you are free.”

While seemingly intended to establish an unsettling
atmosphere, the fragmented text feels disconnected
from the movement and comes across as an attempt at an
edgy European aesthetic rather than something fully
integrated into the work.

That sense of disconnection continues throughout the
choreography. The dancers collide with one another, fall
abruptly to the floor, gyrate, and shift between chaotic group
movement and moments of physical dependence. At times,
one dancer drags another across the stage, creating the
striking illusion of a body floating above the floor. Elsewhere,
the performers suddenly begin to “caw” like birds, a moment
met with scattered chuckles from the audience that makes its
tone difficult to read. Costumes similarly embrace collision,
combining clashing patterns, mesh, florals, and sequins.

The accumulation of these ideas ultimately feels more
arbitrary than intentionally chaotic. Tavori’s statement that
“Not everyone will be taken to the future” is particularly
disturbing within the current political context. Given that Crust
explicitly positions itself as a work “about Israel and the
world,” the phrase carries a weight that the choreography
never fully confronts.

Finishing the evening is Paganini – The First Virtuoso,
performed by The Royal Ballet. Sarah Lamb and Steven
McRae exceptionally blend ballet and tap, placing two distinct
movement vocabularies side by side. Lamb moves en pointe
with lightness and control against the sharp percussion of
McRae’s tapping. Their partnering plays with this contrast, her
elongated balletic lines moving alongside the quick rhythms
of his feet. The choreography creates a playful conversation
between ballet and tap, bringing the evening to an energetic
close.

EYE ON THE ARTS, NY — Frankie Lehr