this week in dance

THE WHIZ: OBAMALAND

The Wizard of Oz heads to Obamaland at Abrons Arts Center

NICHOLAS LEICHTER DANCE + MONSTAH BLACK
Abrons Arts Center, Henry Street Settlement
466 Grand St. at Pitt St.
June 16-19, $20, 8:00
212-598-0400
www.henrystreet.org
www.nldnyc.org

Since 1996, nicholas leichter dance has specialized in what it calls “cultural narratives where movement tells the story,” creating such works as KILLA, FREE THE ANGELS, CARMINA BURANA, and SWEETWASH. The company’s latest piece of musical dance theater, made in collaboration with Monstah Black (who also participated in KILLA), reinterprets THE WIZ and THE WIZARD OF OZ through the lens of the Obama generation. Leichter, who previously danced with Ralph Lemon, Jennifer Muller, Ronald K. Brown, and Gus Solomons jr., will ease audiences down the yellow brick road and into Obamaland at the Abrons Arts Center June 16-19, examining America’s hopes, fears, dreams, and recession-busting fantasies.

Monstah Black and nicholas leichter dance ease on down the disco road in a reimagined WIZ for the Obama generation (photo by Steven Schreiber)

Review: A fanciful collaboration between New York City-based choreographer Nicholas Leichter and self-proclaimed Messiah of the Funk Monstah Black, THE WHIZ: OBAMALAND is a campy low-budget send-up and joyful celebration of Sidney Lumet’s 1978 musical, THE WIZ. Black, serving as a sort of emcee à la Joel Grey in CABARET, has adapted songs from the original soundtrack, performing such numbers as “The Feeling That We Have,” “Ease on Down the Road,” and “Slide Some Oil” while wearing some of the most fab costumes this side of 1970s-era Studio 54 and the 1980s PARIS IS BURNING aesthetic. (Oh, those shoes…) Leichter and Black also throw in Missy Elliot’s raunchy “Lick Shots,” Faith Evans’s “Soon as I Get Home,” the Time’s “Jungle Love,” and Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” to keep up the funk and, in the latter case, add yet more silly humor to what was already a very funny, groovy show. The dancers, including Lauren Basco, Wendell Cooper, Stephanie Liapis, Aaron Draper, Dawn Robinson, Keon Thoulouis, Laurie Taylor, Yozmit, and Leichter, pay tribute to Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, and Rocky Balboa as they clearly have a ball performing Leichter’s exuberant choreography. Draper brings down the house several times, first holding fans on Robinson to make her dress and feather boa flap in the wind, then coming out as a boxer, his skinny white body soon dancing alongside three men with much, er, bigger, stronger, darker frames. Even at a mere seventy-five minutes it could use a little trimming here and there, but the show is still great fun, with one heckuva surprise near the end that will have you gasping for breath. THE WHIZ: OBAMALAND runs through June 19 at the Abrons Arts Center, but we’re hoping it comes back soon so it can be seen by the wider audience it deserves.

TRUTH, REVISED HISTORIES, WISHFUL THINKING, AND FLAT OUT LIES

john Jasperse’s latest, playing at the Joyce June 16-19, features a pair of bathing beauties and much more (photo by Sylvio Dittrich)


JOHN JASPERSE COMPANY
Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Ave. at 19th St.
June 16-19, $10-$39
212-242-0800
www.joyce.org
www.johnjasperse.org

For more than twenty years, Manhattan-based dancer-choreographer Johnn Jasperse has been creating unique works that explore both the human body and the psyche. Commissioning experimental music and often incorporating multimedia and multidisciplinary elements, Jasperse is always up to challenging himself as well as the audience. In 2007 he presented the environmentally conscious MISUSE LIABLE TO PROSECUTION at BAM, which was trashy fun, and last May he staged the very intimate BECKY JODI AND JOHN at Dance Theater Workshop. Back at the Joyce this week for the first time in ten years, Jasperse will be holding the New York premiere of TRUTH, REVISED HISTORIES, WISHFUL THINKING, AND FLAT OUT LIES, featuring a commissioned score by Hahn Rowe played live by the International Contemporary Ensemble.

Erin Cornell and John Jasperse go at it in the choreographer’s latest work (photo by Sylvio Dittrich)

Review: In his latest evening-length piece, John Jasperse explores the social, political, and personal aspects of the history of performance, with forays into adagio tango, the flappers fad, classical ballet, and experimental contemporary dance. He mixes fantasy with reality, truth with fiction, playing with illusion while testing the audience’s patience and its ability to acknowledge quality. At one point Neal Beasley, Erin Cornell, Eleanor Hullihan, and Kayvon Pourazar stumble about, unable to complete a move correctly, while at another they slide gracefully across the stage, in total control of their bodies. Jasperse makes occasional appearances as well, serving as comic relief, including one stint as a lousy magician. The glitz and glamour of the first part, which features sequined outfits, a colorful beach backdrop, and songs by Ginuwine and Barry White, is offset by the much more serious second act, with everything bathed in bright white, from the International Contemporary Ensemble, who play Hahn Rowe’s beautiful score live onstage, to the doily lampshades the four dancers and Jasperse don during a long, nearly motionless section following a scene of unexpected violence. While a handful of people left early on opening night (June 16), many more gave the company a rousing standing ovation at the end of a challenging, diverse, exciting, and intriguing night of unusual dance theater.

i actually love this

Square One
Hand & Foot at Available Space
260 Butler St. between Nevins & Bond Sts.
Saturday, June 12, free, 7:30 & 9:30
www.jumpoffdance.org

When not dancing with Molissa Fenley or teaching yoga, Cassie Mey choreographs outdoor site-specific works in unusual places. Last year she performed “What We Can See from Here” (with Jesse-Phillips Fein) as part of the Greening the Ridge event at the 69th St. Veteran’s Memorial Pier in Bay Ridge and “Susurrus” as part of FLOAT (with Danny Johnston and Terry Hempfling) at Socrates Sculpture Park, incorporating the landscape into the set, using trees and picnic tables as well as bringing kiddie pools. This weekend she and her group, Square One (Mey, Phillips-Fein, and Johnston), will be staging the world premiere of “I actually love this,” what they are calling “a rooftop dance about texture, decay, birds, soft spots, listening, falling, and getting dirty,” also featuring Hempfling, Xavier Cha, Heather Hammond, and EmmaGrace Skove-Epes. It’s always fascinating to see what Mey and Square One are up to, so this should be another very different, entertaining event.

ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER

Matthew Rushing feels the spirit in Ronald K. Brown commission (Photo by Paul Kolnick)

Brooklyn Academy of Music
Howard Gilman Opera House
30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Pl. & St. Felix St.
June 10-20, $20-$85
718-636-4100
www.bam.org
www.alvinailey.org

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns to BAM to close out the eclectic arts institution’s spring season with a pair of programs. “Ailey Spirit” features Ailey’s “Mary Lou’s Mass,” being performed for the first time in thirty-five years, as well as the classic “Revelations,” which is always a thrill to see, and Ronald K. Brown’s “Dancing Spirit,” the Brooklyn-based dancer and choreographer’s gorgeous tribute to Judith Jamison that premiered at City Center last December. “By Popular Demand” includes Robert Battle’s “In/Side,” “Revelations,” and Matthew Rushing’s “Uptown,” the longtime Ailey dancer’s rather mundane history of the Harlem Renaissance that also premiered last winter at City Center. The Saturday matinees on June 12 & 19 will be followed by an artist talk with the dancers.

MUSEUM MILE FESTIVAL

The Museum Mile Festival kicks off at El Museo del Barrio, which will host live music and dance as well as chalk drawing for kids and adults

Multiple locations on Fifth Ave. between 82nd & 105th Sts.
Tuesday, June 8, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
Admission: free
www.museummilefestival.org

Once again nine of the city’s finest art institutions will open their doors for free for the thirty-second annual Museum Mile Festival, from 6:00 to 9:00 on Tuesday night, June 8. The participating museums (with one of their current shows listed here) include El Museo del Barrio (“Retro/Active: The Works of Rafael Ferrer”), the Museum of the City of New York (“Charles Addams’s New York”), the Jewish Museum (“South African Photographs: David Goldblatt”), the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum (“National Design Triennial: Why Design Now?”) the National Academy (“Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary American Art”), the Guggenheim (“Haunted: Contemporary Photography / Video / Performance”), the Neue Galerie (“Otto Dix”), the Goethe-Institut (the institute has moved downtown but will be at the festival nonetheless), and the Met (“Picasso in the Metropolitan Museum of Art”). Fifth Ave. will also be closed to vehicular traffic and instead will be filled with art activities (chalk drawing, live model drawing), street performances (clowns, juggles, magicians), and live music and dance featuring P-STAR: the ABAKUÁ Afro-Latin Dance Company, Paul Labarbera and Rockbeat, Quarteto Rodriguez Cuban Jewish Allstars, and the Hayes Greenfield Jazz Duo. The Museum Mile Festival is a great way to check out some very cool institutions, especially those you might not be quite as familiar with.

ARMITAGE GONE! DANCE: THREE THEORIES

WORLD SCIENCE FESTIVAL
Theater at Cedar Lake
547 West 27th St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
Through June 6, $30, 4:00 & 7:30
212-352-3101
www.armitagegonedance.org
www.worldsciencefestival.com

New York-based choreographer Karole Armitage believes in five primary principles when it comes to dance: “Seek beauty. Show mutability. Move like a blaze of consciousness. Perfection is the devil. Express the eroticisim of gravity.” She brings all that and more to “Three Theories,” running through June 6 at Cedar Lake. Part of the World Science Festival, the evening-length piece is divided into sections that depict the Theory of Relativity, Quantum Theory, and String Theory. The eleven-person Armitage Gone! Dance company display their impressive muscularity and explosive vibrancy throughout the performance, which begins with a prelude in which men in black briefs and women in black bikinis reenact the Big Bang around Megumi Eda, one of several stand-out dancers (along with the lithe and agile Kristina Bether-Blunt and the creative Leonides D. Arpon). Heavily influenced by Brian Greene’s book THE ELEGANT UNIVERSE, Armitage has her dancers weave and gesture to suggest an abstract visual language of physics, evoking curved time and space, especially during the Quantum section, when Clifton Taylor’s lighting switches on and off, making it seem like the dancers are particles appearing and disappearing to Rhys Chatham’s pounding score. (Chatham also did the music for “Bang,” with Sangeeta Shankar and Ramkumar Misra handling “Relativity” and John Luther Adams’s “Dark Waves” anchoring “String.”) Masayo Yamaguchi and Marlon Taylor-Wiles turn up the heat in one sexy duet, while Emily Wagner and William Isaac show off their ballet skills in another lively pairing.

Michio Kaku and Karole Armitage discuss the phsyics of dance at the World Science Festival on June 4 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

The show might not help you understand the work of Dr. Stephen Hawking or even Albert Einstein, but it continually thrills and delights. However, the Saturday evening perfomance will be followed by a discussion with Armitage and physicist Lawrence Krauss that should prove educational; the June 4 show included a talk with Armitage and Michio Kaku that was both funny and fascinating.

FREE SUMMER DANCE 2010

ZviDance performed last year at the LMCC program Siteliines and will be at Celebrate Brooklyn! this summer

Some of New York’s most exciting dance companies will be presenting free performances this summer at such annual festivals as Celebrate Brooklyn!, SummerStage, CityParks Dance, River to River, and other special events. Among the companies scheduled to participate are Laura Peterson Choreography, Abakuá Afro-Latin Dance Company, Alice Farley Dance Theater, Armitage Gone! Dance, Deganit Shemy and Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Paul Taylor II, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Lucinda Childs, and many more to be announced.

Saturday, June 5    Red Hook Fest – Back to Front: La Excelencia, Joseph Webb & Beautiful Fire, decadancetheatre, Cora Dance, M.U.G.A.B.E.E., and more, Louis J. Valentino Jr. Park and pier, 11:00 am – 7:00 pm

Saturday, June 5    Pathmark MultiCultural Festival: Casym Steel Drums, Sunrise Chinese Dancers, Niall O’Leary Irish Step Dancers, Samba Novo, and Zon del Barrio, South Street Seaport Pier 17, 12 noon – 4:00

Saturday, June 12
and
Sunday, June 13    Square One: i actually love this, rooftop dance, Hand & Foot at Available Space, 260 Butler St. between Nevins & Bond Sts., 7:30 & 9:30

Tuesday, June 22
through
Friday, June 25   River to River — LMCC Sitelines: Laura Peterson Choreography: Everyone, the Elevated Acre, 12:30

Saturday, June 26   CityParks Dance: Abakuá Afro-Latin Dance Company and Areytos Performance Works, St. Mary’s Park, 7:00

Thursday, July 1   Celebrate Brooklyn!: Zoom: ZviDance, Son Lux with Lottdance, Prospect Park Bandshell, 8:00

Wednesday, July 7
and
Thursday, July 8   River to River — LMCC Sitelines: Yoshiko Chuma: A-C-E ONE, LentSpace, Canal and Varick Streets, 5:30 and 7:30

Thursday, July 8   River to River: Alice Farley Dance Theater, HellGate Love Letter, World Financial Center Plaza, 12:30

Thursday, July 8   Celebrate Brooklyn!: Itutu: Armitage Gone! Dance featuring Burkina Electric, Prospect Park Bandshell, 8:00

Friday, July 9   River to River: Alice Farley Dance Theater, HellGate Love Letter, One NY Plaza, 12:30

Friday, July 9 Passport Fridays: South Africa (World Cup Edition), with dance by S.A.G.A., live music by Tuelo Minah, and screening of STREETBALL (Demetrius Wren, 2010), Queens Museum, 6:30

Saturday, July 10   River to River: Rochester City Ballet, Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts, 2:00

Sunday, July 11 MoonDance: David Berger Jazz Festival, Hudson River Park Pier 54, dance lessons 6:30, concert 7:00

Monday, July 12
through
Thursday, July 15    River to River — LMCC Sitelines: Deganit Shemy and Company: 2 kilos of sea, John St. United Methodist Church, 44 John St., 12:30

Friday, July 16   CityParks Dance: Seewe African Dance Company and BalAfroHop, Queensbridge Park, 8:00

Friday, July 16
through
Saturday, August 14   River to River: Paul–André Fortier: Solo 30×30, One New York Plaza, 12 noon

Friday, July 16 Passport Fridays: Colombia & Ecuador, with dance by Estampas Negras, live music by GeoPro and ACES and Diego Obregon & Grupo Chonta, and screenings of WE PAINT HOUSES, WITH PAINT! (Celectivo El Deposito & Juan Zabala, 2008), THE HOUSE OF THE STIFF CAT (Nancy Burneo Salazar, 2009), and FREKUENCIA KOLOMBIA (Vanessa Goksch, 2009), Queens Museum, 6:30

Saturday, July 17   CityParks Dance: THE DANCE OF LIGHT, choreographed by Vernard J. Gilmore and Abdur-Rahim Jackson, Queensbridge Park, 7:00

Sunday, July 18   MoonDance: Los Hermanos Colon, Hudson River Park Pier 54, dance lessons 6:30, concert 7:00

Sunday, July 25   MoonDance: Nu D’Lux, Hudson River Park Pier 54, dance lessons 6:30, concert 7:00

Thursday, July 29   Lincoln Center Out of Doors: Ansanm (In Love We Stand), Emeline Michel, Beethova Obas, BélO, Zili Misik, and Peniel Guerrier in collaboration with the Mikerline Dance Company Damrosch Park Bandshell, 7:30

Friday, July 23 Passport Fridays: South Korea, with dance byVongKu’s Traditional Korean Drum & dance Troupe, live music by the Blue & White, and screening of CASTAWAY ON THE MOON (Lee Hae-jun, 2009), Queens Museum, 6:30

Friday, July 23
and
Saturday, July 24     SummerStage: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Rumsey Playfield, 8:00

Friday, July 30    CityParks Dance: Creative Outlet Dance Theater, Kyle Abraham and Abraham.in.Motion, Jackie Robinson Park, 7:00

Friday, July 30 Passport Fridays: Taiwan, with dance by Sun Son Theater, live music by the Formosa Chamber Music Society, and screening of ORZBOYZ! (Ya-che Yang, 2008), Queens Museum, 6:30

Friday, July 30     Lincoln Center Out of Doors: Nona Hendryx, Nicholas Leichter Dance with Monstah Black: THE WHIZ: Over the Rainbow, Damrosch Park Bandshell, 7:30

Saturday, July 31     CityParks Dance: Earl Mosely’s Institute of Dance, Motion Theater Lab, Jackie Robinson Park, 7:00

Saturday, July 31
and
Sunday, August 1    River to River — LMCC Sitelines: Phil Soltanoff: SIT, STAND, WALK, LIE DOWN…, Governors Island, 3:30

Sunday, August 1    MoonDance: Hector Del Curto’s Eternal Tango Orchestra, Hudson River Park Pier 54, dance lessons 6:30, concert 7:00

Monday, August 2
through
Thursday, August 5    River to River — LMCC Sitelines: Christopher Williams: The Voyage of Garbhglas (excerpt), Irish Hunger Memorial, Battery Park, 12:30

Thursday, August 5    Lincoln Center Out of Doors: Paul Taylor Dance Company: 80th Birthday Celebration, Damrosch Park Bandshell, 8:00

Friday, August 6 Target Passport Fridays: Middle East, with dance by Sramzi El-Edlibi Dabke Dance Group, live music by Salaam Middle Eastern Music Ensemble, and screening of AMREEKA (Cherien Debis), Queens Museum, 6:30

Sunday, August 8    MoonDance: George Gee Swing Orchestra, Hudson River Park Pier 54, dance lessons 6:30, concert 7:00

Monday, August 9
through
Thursday, August 12   River to River — LMCC Sitelines: LoVid: Trichrome Navigation, location to be announced, 12:30

Tuesday, August 11   SummerStage: Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Dancin’ Downtown Contest Winners, Rumsey Playfield, 8:00

Thursday, August 12   Lincoln Center Out of Doors: Chinese American Arts Council: Lion Dance, Josie Robertson Plaza, 7:00

Friday, August 13 Passport Fridays: Brazil, with dance by Carioca Capoeira, live music by Quenia Ribeiro, and screening of THE MAN WHO BOTTLED THE CROWDS (Liro Ferreira, 2000), Queens Museum, 6:30

Friday, August 13   CityParks Dance: Paul Taylor II and Naganuma Dance, East River Park, 7:00

Saturday, August 14   CityParks Dance: Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Wideman, Davis Dance, East River Park, 7:00

Saturday, August 14    Complexions Contemporary Ballet + Wideman/Davis Dance, East River Park, 7:00

Sunday, August 15    Lincoln Center Out of Doors: Lucinda Childs: Dance, Brian Brooks Moving Company: Motor, Damrosch Park Bandshell, 7:00