Cedar Lake will present two programs of three works apiece during two-week season at the Joyce

Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Ave. at 19th St.
October 26 – November 7, $10-$59 (October 27 performance reviewed)
212-242-0800
www.joyce.org
www.cedarlakedance.com

The immensely talented and creative Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet will be heading slightly southeast for its two-week fall season at the Joyce. The company, which has its own home on West 26th St., will be presenting a pair of international programs, beginning with Norwegian Jo Strømgren’s SUNDAY, AGAIN, Italian dancer-choreographer Jacopo Godani’s UNIT IN REACTION, and Swedish choreographer Alexander Ekman’s HUBBUB, running October 26-31, followed by SUNDAY, AGAIN, the London-based, Israeli-born Hofesh Shechter’s THE FOOLS, and Dutch choreographer Didy Veldman’s breathtaking FRAME OF VIEW, which we caught during its New York premiere back in January 2009. (UNIT IN REACTION, HUBBUB, and THE FOOLS are city premieres.) Last year, Cedar Lake blew away dance fans with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s spectacular ORBO NOVO, so it’s a treat to have them back again.

In SUNDAY, AGAIN, Strømgren depicts man-woman dynamics among the wealthy leisure class on their day of rest. Carrying around badminton equipment, costumed in white, vaguely reminiscent of sporting clothes, with white ankle-high socks, the dancers play another game, treating each other roughly, then affectionately, then everywhere in between. Only Acacia Schachte, a central figure, wears a gray dress as she battles it out with Jason Kittelberger. Set to delightful harpsichord music by Bach, SUNDAY, AGAIN is a playful, if not particularly deep, work propped with a broken racket, a net, and a shuttlecock that emerges from unusual places. UNIT IN REACTION tests the limits of three male and three female dancers in body-tugging outfits as they move to Ülrich Müller and Siegfried Rössert’s electronic soundscapes in sharp geometric patterns, individually and together. Choreographer, costumer, and lighting designer Godani works with abrupt breaks and reconfigurations, punctuated by silences and darkness. In a series of solos and duets, the well-muscled dancers get to show off their chops, even if the narrative is too vague for some tastes. The evening concludes with HUBBUB, Ekman’s narrative-laden boot camp as each member of the company, dressed only in tight underwear, stands at their own table, listening closely as an unseen voice, reading along with a typewriter dangling in midair, takes them through a careful series of procedures, with music by Chopin and Xavier Cugat playing in the background. The dance-theater piece features a silly but engaging duet by Nickemil Concepcion and Harumi Terayama (or Oscar Ramos and Schachte, depending on the night), whose supposed internal commentary is read aloud as they move. It’s self-referential, self-indulgent, and self-deprecating all at the same time, but it’s also a fun crowd pleaser. The second program starts November 2 and repeats SUNDAY, AGAIN and adds THE FOOLS and FRAME OF VIEW; we saw the latter back in January 2009, using such words as “breathtaking” and “thrilling” in our review, available here.