this week in dance

NICK CAVE: HEARD•NY

Artist Nick Cave watches a rehearsal of “Heard•NY” (sans horse costumes) in Vanderbilt Hall (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Grand Central Terminal, Vanderbilt Hall
89 East 42nd St.between Lexington and Vanderbilt
March 25-31, free
Daily crossings at 11:00 and 2:00, daily tours at 3:30
www.creativetime.org
heard•ny rehearsal slideshow

Grand Central Terminal is famous for its cattle-like crowds — hence the overused cliché “It’s like Grand Central Station in here!” — but it’s about to take in a whole new kind of herd this week. Starting on Monday, March 25, and continuing through Sunday March 31, Nick Cave’s “Heard•NY” will add to all the hustle and bustle. The Missouri-born multidisciplinary artist, whose dual exhibits “Ever-After” at Jack Shainman and “For Now” at Mary Boone ran in Chelsea in the fall of 2011, is installing thirty of his life-size horse Soundsuits in Vanderbilt Hall, where they will be on view all week. But every day at 11:00 am and 2:00 pm, student dancers from the Ailey School will get inside the colorful suits and perform what are being called “Crossings,” making their through the world’s most famous train terminal in intricate movements developed by Cave and Chicago-based choreographer William Gill, with live music by harpists Shelley Burgon and Mary Lattimore and percussionists Robert Levin and Junior Wedderburn. (There will also be daily guided tours of the installation at 3:30.) The performances harken back to the days when horse-drawn carts were prevalent in the city, prior to the coming of the railways and automobiles. A collaboration between Creative Time and MTA Arts for Transit as part of Grand Central Terminal’s ongoing centennial celebration, “Heard•NY” continues Cave’s exploration of human and animal ritual behavior and social and cultural identity, using found and recycled materials to create sculpture, video, and combinations of the two. The artist will discuss his latest work in relation to masquerade, performance, and dreaming in public at a special presentation, “A Conversation with Nick Cave,” in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Bonnie J. Sacerdote Lecture Hall on March 29 at 6:00 (free with museum admission), with Cave, Creative Time curator Nato Thompson, and Met curator Alisa LaGamma. “A herd of horses has been unleashed in Grand Central Terminal,” Thompson poetically explains in a statement. “Grazing in Vanderbilt Hall, they move at a pace perhaps too slow for the needs of a commuter, seeming to ask us to slow down. To take a second. To look. . . . In the frantic pace of our contemporary age, in the monumental machine that is Grand Central Terminal, we are temporarily placed outside ourselves by crossing paths with Cave’s creations. We can observe these horses in the same way that we look upon our fellow travelers in the Main Concourse, sensing the texture of time and the dizzying visual seduction that is the pleasure and bewilderment of our contemporary moment.” People are always rushing through train stations, which primarily serve as weigh stations at the beginning, middle, or end of a journey, but “Heard•NY” should make everyone stop for a few minutes, take a deep breath, and enjoy the surrounding fun, taking advantage of where they are rather than hurrying to get where they are going. (Coincidentally, madman Australian musician Nick Cave is also in New York City this week, playing the Beacon Theatre March 28-30 with his longtime band, the Bad Seeds.)

“STRIKE!”

Music, dance, and boxing come together in unique ways at Gleason’s on March 16

THE INTERNATIONAL STREET CANNIBALS
Gleason’s Gym
77 Front St., DUMBO
Saturday, March 16, $20, 8:00
718-797-2872
www.gleasonsgym.net
www.streetcannibals.com

The best boxing matches are like vibrant dances, the sights and sounds coming together in exciting yet violent ways. On March 16, New York City’s own International Street Cannibals, a new music collective whose goals include bringing contemporary and classical music to new performance venues, educating young audiences, expanding the instrument repertoire, and putting together unique collaborations that combine music, dance, voice, and, yes, boxing, will be presenting their latest “Strike!” show at legendary Gleason’s Gym in DUMBO. Led by director Dan “Lefty” Barrett, ISC will play chamber-music pieces in between live boxing matches, with everything taking place in three rings. The music schedule features ten-to-twelve-minute sets of three-minute works by Barrett (“Philomela,” “Technical Knock Out,” “March of the Balonie Sandwiches”), Dan Cooper (“Hoof & Mouth,” “Ephemeral Blues,” “Soca”), Gene Pritsker (“Aeon II,” “Dust and Mirages of the Communal Mind”), John Clark (“Full Count,” “Horn Call,” “Going Coastal”), Paul Hindemith (“Marsch,” “Lied,” and “Musikstück”), Daniel Palkowski (“Bela’s Pusette,” “Duet for a Wet Space”), and Dave Taylor (“Brother,” “Dance”) as well as Johann Sebastian Bach and a Dixieland version of “Die Gedanken sind Frei.” Barrett will be conducting Clark on French horn, Tish Edens on cello, Rachel Golub on violin, Franz Hackl on trumpet, Gregor Kitzis on violin, Cesare Papetti on percussion, Pritsker on electric guitar, Troy Rinker on bass, Taylor on bass trombone, Linda Wetherill on flute, and Chala Yancy on viola. Getting into the ring, which has been home to 132 champions, from Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Tyson, and Holmes to Hearns, Qawi, Hagler, La Motta, and Chavez, will be nine boys and girls between the ages of twelve and seventeen, duking it out in three rounds of three minutes each: Paul Anthony, Kevin Barker, Jennifer Guzman, Eryan Rodriguez, Matt Nicelli, Kevin Anderson, Antonio Arca, Isabella Arca, and Nicole D’Alessio. In between rounds, there will be music as well as dance by Andrew Broaddus, Adrienne Misko, Amanda Mottur, Cat Murcek, Max Pollak, and choreographer Megan Sipe. The event is a benefit for Gleason Gym’s “Give a Kid a Dream” program, which uses boxing to help disadvantaged youths both mentally and physically.

HIROAKI UMEDA: “HAPTIC” AND “HOLISTIC STRATA”

Hiroaki Umeda will perform a pair of mind-blowing solo pieces March 7-9 at New York Live Arts

New York Live Arts, Bessie Schönberg Theater
219 West 19th St. between Seventh & Eighth Aves.
March 7-9, $20, 7:30
212-691-6500
www.newyorklivearts.org
www.hiroakiumeda.com

The last time Tokyo-based multimedia movement artist Hiroaki Umeda performed in New York, in May 2009 at Japan Society, we used such superlatives as “dazzling” and “eye-popping” in describing his solo pieces Adapting for Distortion and Accumulated Layout, concluding by calling him “a rising star in the global modern dance community. . . . making only his third appearance in the United States with this show at Japan Society; one can only hope there will be many more.” It’s nearly four years later, but Umeda is back in the city this week, performing Haptic and Holistic Strata March 7-9 at New York Live Arts. In the former, Umeda moves on a lighted rectangular floor with a rectangular backdrop that continually change color as he moves for extended periods of time in one place to electronic noise. In the latter, Umeda is enveloped by black-and-white projections as computerized sounds interact with his movement. As always, Umeda explores visual perception using cutting-edge technology in ways that can blow your mind. The March 7 show will be preceded by the Come Early Conversation “The Visual Atmosphere in Dance” with Hélène Lesterlin, while the March 8 performance will be followed by the Stay Late Discussion “The Process of Creating Haptic and Holistic Strata” with NYLA artistic director Carla Peterson.

STRIPPED/DRESSED: FAYE DRISCOLL

Faye Driscoll’s work-in-progress brings dancers — and audience — together in unique ways (photo by Julie Lemberger)

92nd St. Y, Buttenwieser Hall
395 Lexington Ave. at 92nd St.
Sunday, March 3, $24, 3:00
212-415-5500
www.92y.org
www.fayedriscoll.com

For her “Stripped/Dressed” presentation at the 92nd St. Y, New York-based choreographer Faye Driscoll changed the general format, with spectacular results. Part of the Harkness Dance Festival, “Stripped/Dressed” invites choreographers to first stage a piece without adornment — no costumes, props, etc. — then discuss the work and show it again, the second time with theatrical accoutrements. Driscoll, whose previous work includes You’re Me, There is so much mad in me, and 837 Venice Blvd, transformed the already intimate Buttenwieser Hall into a warm, friendly gathering, with two rows of seats surrounding all four sides of the center Marley floor. Driscoll first discussed the genesis of her untitled work-in-progress, which examines such themes as mirroring, group ritual, and the interdependence of audience and performer, being sure to walk around the space so she could get close to everyone. Then the five dancers (Giulia Carotenuto, Jeremy Pheiffer, Anna Marie Shogren, Brandon Washington, and Nikki Zialcita) — who had never before performed in public for Driscoll or with one another; they had been hired through auditions in December — began a thirty-five-minute excerpt, wearing regular clothes, with no music and the house lights on throughout, in which they virtually were always in contact with one another as foot touched foot, fingers stroked hair, hands brushed chest, lips kissed neck, elbow banged shoulder, and head popped through legs in a dazzling display of emotion and physicality. The dancers also interacted with the audience via direct eye contact, the exchange of random objects, and touch as well. It’s like the craziest game of Twister you’ve ever seen, except taken to much deeper, provocative, metaphysical levels while, as is Driscoll’s wont, changing many of the rules. The choreographer pointed out that since the work is still in its early phases, some movements are likely to be expanded for the final piece, while others will probably disappear, but audience members after the show could be heard saying that they hope she doesn’t change a thing. The third and final presentation of Driscoll’s unique “Stripped/Dressed” presentation takes place Sunday afternoon at 3:00; curated by Doug Varone, for whom Driscoll previously danced, the series continues March 8-10 with the Liz Gerring Dance Company’s she dreams in code, March 15-17 with Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, a Dance Company’s Gatekeepers, and March 22-24 with the Kate Weare Company’s Garden.

TWI-NY TALK: ANI TAJ NIEMANN

Ani Taj Niemann balances multiple roles for the Dance Cartel (photo by Stephen Elledge)

ONTHEFLOOR WITH THE DANCE CARTEL
Liberty Hall at the ACE Hotel
20 West 29th St. at Broadway
Saturday, March 2, April 6, May 4, June 1, $15-$20, 8:00
www.anitajniemann.com
www.thedancecartel.com

Last fall we raved about the energetic and exhilarating OntheFloor, a wild and crazy participatory performance by the Dance Cartel held in Liberty Hall downstairs at the Ace Hotel. For ninety minutes, a talented group of dancers moved and grooved through the dark space as the audience followed them around. Conceived and choreographed by Dance Cartel founder Ani Taj Niemann and codirected by Sam Pinkleton (Witness Relocation), OntheFloor returns to Liberty Hall on March 2, beginning a four-month residency that continues April 6, May 4, and June 1. You never know quite what’s going to happen or who’s going to show up at the fast-paced evening. Native New Yorker Taj recently gave twi-ny the lowdown as she prepared for the new set of performances.

twi-ny: What was the genesis of OntheFloor?

Ani Taj: The seed for OntheFloor was a short performance the Dance Cartel did at an art party called BjorkBall at Kent285 in Williamsburg, where we decided to move the crowd around us as we danced to create a shifting performance space. That idea was born largely out of my excitement about recent months I’d spent in Bahia, Brazil, where dance and music saturate everyday experience. In Bahia you get a lot of percussion in the streets, crowds dancing, spontaneous unison choreography in parades and concerts — people are constantly participating in rhythm and movement whether they like it or not. So when we got the offer to create an evening-length work based on the way we did BjorkBall, I thought I’d like to create an environment where people would have that same kind of permission to dance and participate, whether they’re dance savvy or not. Over time we’ve made a home for ourselves and our audiences at the Ace, but we keep it fresh with new material and guest artists for new collaborations.

twi-ny: How did you come upon the Ace?

Ani Taj: We really embrace the idea of making dance happen in unexpected places so that people outside of the usual dance crowd can have access to it. Ken Friedman (of the Spotted Pig and the Breslin restaurants) had the vision to bring us into Liberty Hall after seeing us at Kent285. There are challenges since the space is not intentionally outfitted for performance, but that’s part of the thrill of moving into new territory.

twi-ny: What do you tell dance fans who might be thinking twice about going to a show in a dark basement where they’ll have to move around for ninety minutes, being careful not to accidentally bump into the performers?

Ani Taj: Our MC offers a few simple guidelines at the top of the show, but mostly it’s common sense: if you see a body flying toward you, move; if you like the beat, groove. Part of the fun is that you’re being asked to be aware of your own body in space — as you would at a crowded concert or club.

The Dance Cartel returns to the Ace Hotel with the wild and crazy ONTHEFLOOR (photo by Sasha Arutyunova)

twi-ny: The show begins with a series of short acts from various genres, from comedy and video to participatory performance art. How are the acts chosen?

Ani Taj: Actually the evening you saw was unusual — that night there was a partnership with a publication that created that whole preshow. Usually we start off with just the Cartel, and sometimes there is a guest performer (usually musical) midway through the show. We are lining up our guests for the spring now — we’ll keep you posted. 😉

twi-ny: OntheFloor is the type of show where anything can happen. What’s the craziest thing you’ve experienced while performing the show?

Ani Taj: I’m happy to say there have been no major train wrecks, only happy convergences between unexpected groups of people. There was a great night where a dozen businessmen accidentally rolled in toward the end of our show, loved the feel, and they just cut loose and stayed dancing with us and our Brazilian drummers for a couple of hours. Our collaboration with Team Hotwheelz was also an incredibly gratifying, out-there experience; we cocreated a dance with two pioneer performers who happen to be in wheelchairs, Ali Stroker and Chelsie Hill, and then for that show we suddenly had multiple audience members in wheelchairs doing the Dougie with us.

twi-ny: You and Sam also teach the Dance Dancing Dance Company Class. Is that a class for anyone? What is the focus?

Ani Taj: The Dance Dancing Dance Company Company Class (DDDCCC) is very much a class for anyone — we’ve had everyone from trained dancers to sound designers to philosophy students, and the class is crafted to be both challenging and fun (yes, fun; dancing can be fun!) for people with disparate backgrounds. I think for both Sam and me, a sense of humor and an accelerated heart rate are important parts of the dance we want to see more of in the world. Students can expect to get low and sweaty and have a stupid good time but also to be challenged to capture the dynamics and rhythmic details of real dance sequences in the choreography portion of the class.

MYTH & TRANSFORMATION: PHAEDRA / THE SHOW (ACHILLES HEELS)

Athena (Blakely White-McGuire) and Achilles (Lloyd Mayor) in Richard Move’s THE SHOW (ACHILLES HEELS) (photo © Paula Court)

MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY
Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Ave. at 19th St.
Thursday, February 28, 8:00; Saturday, March 2, 2:00; Sunday, March 3, 7:30, $10-$59
212-645-2904
www.joyce.org
www.marthagraham.org

The Martha Graham Dance Company’s winter season at the Joyce, dubbed “Myth & Transformation,” kicked off on February 20 with a pair of productions that served as a microcosm for both the title of the season as well as for the two sides of the company itself. First up was Graham’s 1962 piece Phaedra, a tale of love, infidelity, and revenge featuring Blakely White-McGuire as Phaedra, Maurizio Nardi as Hippolytus, Tadej Brdnik as Theseus, and PeiJu Chien-Pott as Pasiphea, with Mariya Dashkina Maddux as Artemis and Xiaochuan Xie as Aphrodite, in a set composed of four structures designed by Japanese sculptor Isamu Noguchi. Graham’s Phaedra gained notoriety because two members of Congress denounced it as obscene when the work was on tour courtesy of State Department funds, but today it seems tame and rather plain. The trio of men show off their nearly impossible six-pack abs, Artemis shoots off unseen arrows, and Phaedra does curious things with a knife, but the piece feels old-fashioned and dry, as if it were dug up from a time capsule, and Robert Starer’s score sounds like it’s made up of leftovers from West Side Story. For those who think Graham’s work, which changed the face of modern dance for decades, is no longer as relevant as it once was, now cast into a category of legend and myth, Phaedra is a strong example.

Phaedra (Blakely White-McGuire) is manipulated by Aphrodite (Xiaochuan Xie) in Martha Graham Dance Company production of PHAEDRA (photo courtesy of Costas)

But The Show (Achilles Heels) is everything Phaedra is not, a tantalizing, dazzling piece that celebrates Graham’s continuing transformative influence on narrative and movement. Originally commissioned for the White Oak Dance Project in 2002, Richard Move’s unique take on the story of Helen of Troy (Katherine Crockett, in the role she created) and Achilles (Graham apprentice Lloyd Mayor, playing the part previously performed by Mikhail Baryshnikov at White Oak in 2002 and Rasta Thomas at the Kitchen in 2006) is filled with plenty of glitz and glamour as well as beautiful movement. The fanciful production features music by Arto Lindsay, new and old songs by Debbie Harry and Blondie, and a two-sided backdrop painted by artist Nicole Eisenman as well as piped-in dialogue that is mouthed by the lead actors from either previous incarnations of the show (which featured Misha as Achilles and Harry as Athena), or from old Hollywood sword and sandal epics. Move, who appeared as Graham in Martha@ . . . The 1963 Interview two years ago at DTW — and whose own grandmother was Miss Athens — turns the red-clad Athena (White-McGuire) into the host of a reality TV show in which the contestant Achilles answers Jeopardy!-like questions when not staring at himself in a mirror, playing with a mechanical dove, or being covered in glitter. As opposed to Phaedra, a relic from a bygone age, Move’s The Show (Achilles Heels) is a Greek tragedy for the twenty-first century, a tale of love and war told by a Graham devotee who has no boundaries. (Phaedra and The Show [Achilles Heels] will be presented at the Joyce on February 28 and March 2 and 3, with the roles of Phaedra, Hippolytus, and Theseus in the former played by Crockett, Lloyd Knight, and Ben Schultz, respectively, at some performances.)

HARKNESS DANCE FESTIVAL: STRIPPED/DRESSED

Kate Weare will present GARDEN at 92nd St. Y “Stripped/Dressed” series (photo by Christopher Duggan)

92nd St. Y, Buttenwieser Hall
395 Lexington Ave. at 92nd St.
February 22 – March 24, $20-$24
212-415-5500
www.92y.org

The Harkness Dance Festival’s annual “Stripped/Dressed” series kicks off this weekend, bringing in innovative choreographers who first discuss their working process and show excerpts — “stripped,” with no lights or costumes — then perform the same thing “dressed,” this time with artistic adornments. Curated by Doug Varone, the season begins February 22-24 as his company, Doug Varone and Dancers, presents the world premiere set to Julia Wolfe’s “Cruel Sisters” as part of its twenty-fifth anniversary. Dazzlingly original choreographer Faye Driscoll, whose work is consistently witty and challenging, will debut a new piece March 1-3 that examines dance making, space, and performance as ritual, followed March 8-10 by the Liz Gerring Dance Company’s She Dreams in Code, which was performed in fall 2011 at the Baryshnikov Arts Center. On March 15-17, Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, a Dance Company, which just blew away audiences at the Joyce with Torch, moves into Buttenwieser Hall to perform Gatekeepers, a 1999 work, originally commissioned by Philadanco, that deals with wounded soldiers. The season concludes March 22-24 with the Kate Weare Company’s Garden, in which two men and two women traipse through a mysterious natural world.