Eiko Otake and Tomoe Aihara will perform site-specific TWO WOMEN on Governors Island June 20 & 22 (photo by William Johnston)
Multiple locations
June 19-29, free
www.lmcc.net/program/river-to-river
The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s annual summer arts festival, River to River, is shorter than ever this year, running only eleven days, but they are packing a whole lot into that time, especially when it comes to dance, which features several choreographers who have participated in twi-ny talks over the last few years; in fact, it feels like we could have curated this exciting lineup. On June 20 and 22 at 2:00, the New York–based Eiko Otake, half of the longtime dance duo Eiko & Koma, will perform the site-specific Two Women with Japan-based dancer Tomoe Aihara on Governors Island, exploring their differences in age and geography. On June 20 at 3:00 and June 21 at 1:00 and 3:00, dance fans who missed Vanessa Anspaugh’s We Were an Island earlier this year at Danspace will get another chance to see the work, inspired by Rebecca Solnit’s book The Faraway Nearby, about creating stories and making connections; Anspaugh will perform the piece with Addys Gonzalez and Bessie McDonough-Thayer at Building 10A in Nolan Park on Governors Island. On June 21 at 9:00, “R2R Living Room: Everyday I’m Hustlin’” brings together food and drink with a Hustle-inspired piece from Ephrat Asherie Dance and DJ Hector Arce-Espasas at Nelson Blue at the South Street Seaport. On June 22 at 4:30, “In Conversation: Susan Rosenberg on Trisha Brown” takes place at LMCC’s Arts Center on Governors Island, with art historian Rosenberg and Trisha Brown dancer Tamara Riewe sharing their thoughts on the legendary choreographer, in conjunction with the multimedia exhibition “Trisha Brown: Embodied Practice and Site-Specificity,” which continues through September 28. Tere O’Connor will present a new, site-specific duet for Michael Ingle and Silas Riender at the Elevated Acre June 23-25 at 1:00. Souleyman Badolo’s , of history (Virgule de l’histoire) examines transformation and acceptance, June 24 at 3:00 and June 25 at 3:00 & 5:00 in the John Street United Methodist Church courtyard.
Reggie Wilson’s . . . MOSES(ES) is part of exciting River to River dance lineup this month (photo courtesy of the artist)
On June 25 at 2:45 and June 26 at 1:45 and 3:45 at St. Cornelius Chapel on Governors Island, Reggie Wilson’s . . . Moses(es) explores the concept of leadership. On June 25 at 7:00 on Pier 15, the Trisha Brown Dance Company will hold a public dress rehearsal of the choreographer’s final piece, “I’m going to toss my arms — if you catch them they’re yours,” followed the next afternoon at 4:00 by the official performance. On June 26 at 5:00 and June 27-28 at 120 Wall St., Wally Cardona and Jennifer Lacey continue their eight-part collaboration with the fifth installment, The Set Up: I Nyoman Catra, creating a new work with Topeng master Nyoman Catra. And on June 27 at 3:00 and June 28 at 3:00 and 5:00 in Bowling Green, Maria Hassabi will restage her grippingly original Premiere, which takes another unusual look at the relationship between audience and performer; Hassabi will also participate in the panel discussion “In Conversation: Maria Hassabi, Paolo Javier, and Kaneza Schaal” June 27 at 7:00 at Poets House. River to River and LMCC have put together one helluva dance lineup that actually has us salivating; be sure to catch at least one of these fab events, which are all free.
In 1982, Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman followed Pina Bausch’s Tanztheater Wuppertal on a five-week tour of Europe as the cutting-edge troupe traveled to Milan, Venice, and Avignon. “I was deeply touched by her lengthy performances that mingle in your head,” Akerman says at the beginning of the resulting documentary, “One Day Pina Asked…,” continuing, “I have the feeling that the images we brought back do not convey this very much and often betray it.” Akerman (Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles; Je tu il elle) needn’t have worried; her fifty-seven-minute film, made for the Repères sur la Modern Dance French television series, is filled with memorable moments that more than do justice to Bausch’s unique form of dance theater. From 1973 up to her death in 2009 at the age of sixty-eight, Bausch created compelling works that examined the male-female dynamic and the concepts of love and connection with revolutionary stagings that included spoken word, unusual costuming, an unpredictable movement vocabulary, and performers of all shapes, sizes, and ages. Akerman captures the troupe, consisting of twenty-six dancers from thirteen countries, in run-throughs, rehearsals, and live presentations of Komm Tanz Mit Mir (Come Dance with Me), Nelken (Carnations), 1980, Kontakthof, and Walzer, often focusing in on individual dancers in extreme close-ups that reveal their relationship with their performance. Although Bausch, forty at the time, is seen only at the beginning and end of the documentary, her creative process is always at center stage. At one point, dancer Lutz Förster tells a story of performing Gershwin’s “The Man I Love” in sign language in response to Bausch’s asking the troupe to name something they’re proud of. Förster, who took over as artistic director in April 2013, first performs the song for Akerman, then later is shown performing it in Nelken. (Bausch fans will also recognize such longtime company members as Héléna Pikon, Nazareth Panadero, and Dominique Mercy.)
