this week in dance

L.A. DANCE PROJECT

Sterling Ruby created the scenic design for Justin Peck’s Murder Ballades, part of the L.A. Dance Project’s two-week season at the Joyce

The Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Ave. at 19th St.
June 13-25, $26-$66
212-242-0800
www.joyce.org
www.ladanceproject.com

The innovative and exciting L.A. Dance Project follows up its 2016 Joyce debut with a two-week run at the Chelsea institution, performing a pair of what promise to be terrific programs, boasting an impressive array of collaborators. For the first program, the company, which was founded in 2012 by former New York City Ballet principal dancer Benjamin Millepied, will be presenting 2015’s Hearts & Arrows, choreographed by Millepied, with music by Philip Glass performed live by PUBLIQuartet, sets by English conceptual artist Liam Gillick, lighting by Roderick Murray, and costumes by company dancer Janie Taylor; Ohad Naharin’s Yag, a forty-minute piece for six dancers, set to music by John Zorn, Gaetano Donizetti, John Taverner, Ennio Morricone, Ran Slavin, and Maxim Waratt and for which LADP rehearsed with ballet masters from Naharin’s Batsheva Dance Company; and the world premiere of Millepied’s In Silence We Speak, a duet, inspired by Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’Avventura, for Taylor and Carla Korbës that you can get a sneak peek at here. The second program consists of New York City Ballet resident choreographer Justin Peck’s 2013 Murder Ballades, with an original score by Bryce Dessner of the National, sets by American artist Sterling Ruby, and lighting by Brandon Stirling Baker; Merce Cunningham’s MinEvent, a collage of excerpts from Cunningham’s oeuvre, with live piano by Adam Tendler; In Silence We Speak; and the world premiere of Millepied’s multimedia Orpheus Highway, set to Steve Reich’s Triple Quartet, played live by PUBLIQuartet. The company also includes Stephanie Amurao, Aaron Carr, David Adrian Freeland Jr., Rachelle Rafailedes, Nathan B. Makolandra, Julia Eichten, Robbie Moore, Morgan Lugo, and Lilja Rúriksdóttir. There will be a Curtain Chat following the June 15 performance of Program 2. LADP’s 2016 season at the Joyce sold out, so you better hurry if you want to see this sizzling hot company.

HUDSON RIVER DANCE FESTIVAL 2017

Brian Brooks and Wendy Whelan will be among the participants in the 2017 Hudson River Dance Festival (photo by Erin Baiano)

Who: National Dance Institute, Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE, Wendy Whelan and Brian Brooks, Complexions Contemporary Ballet
What: Hudson River Dance Festival
Where: Pier 61 at Chelsea Piers, Hudson River Park
When: Thursday, June 8, and Friday, June 9, free, 6:30
Why: On June 8 and 9, SHS Foundation and the Joyce are presenting the 2017 installment of the annual Hudson River Dance Festival, featuring an impressive lineup of four terrific acts. Former New York City Ballet principal dancer Wendy Whelan has turned toward contemporary dance for her “Restless Creature” project, which includes Brian Brooks; the two recently performed Some of a Thousand Words at the Joyce. Founded in 1976 by New York City Ballet principal dancer Jacques d’Amboise, the National Dance Institute focuses on programs for children; their appearance at the Hudson River Dance Festival will be followed June 17-19 by “Harlem Night Song” at the Skirball Center. The award-winning Complexions Contemporary Ballet has been promoting dance and unity since 1994; next week, Complexions, led by founders Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson, will be off to Detroit for Star Dust: A David Bowie Tribute. And Brooklyn-based Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE has been incorporating West African movement into its choreography for decades; choreographer and dancer Brown will bring his immensely talented company to the Fire Island Dance Festival July 14-16 and to the New Victory Theater July 27 and August 3. The free Hudson River Dance Festival takes place on Pier 61 at Chelsea Piers; blankets are allowed, but chairs are not.

IVY BALDWIN: KEEN [NO. 2]

Ivy Baldwin explores grief and mourning in Keen [No. 2] at Abrons Arts Center (photo by Maria Baranova)

Abrons Arts Center, the Playhouse
466 Grand St. at Pitt St.
Thursday – Sunday through June 11, $20
212-598-0400
www.abronsartscenter.org

In her artist statement, Brooklyn-based dancer and choreographer Ivy Baldwin explains, “Choreography is a way of processing the experiences of my life, my dancer’s lives, and the world around us. . . . I love making dance that is mysterious, darkly emotional, embraces absurdity, and explores twisted humor, violence, and human fragility. . . . As an artist, I strive to let my imagination rule the roost, embrace the chaotic and messy, and most importantly, to be present, open-minded, and brave.” Baldwin opens herself up bravely in her latest evening-length piece, Keen [No. 2], which continues at Abrons Arts Center June 8-11. Co-commissioned by Abrons Arts Center, the Chocolate Factory, and the Joyce as part of Joyce Unleashed, a program that presents experimental off-site works, it is a follow-up to Keen (Part 1), which began Baldwin’s exploration of mourning, grief, rituals, and loneliness following the loss of her longtime friend, dancer, and muse, Lawrence Cassella, who died on January 28, 2016, from the immune system disease HLH. Keen (Part 1) took place at the Glass House in Connecticut, where Anna Carapetyan, Eleanor Smith, Katie Workum, and Baldwin performed inside a glassed-in room (with the audience outside) and along the grounds. (You can see excerpts here.) Keen [No. 2] continues many of the same themes indoors at Abrons, where Baldwin will be joined by Smith and Workum in addition to Anna Adams Stark, Katie Dean, Marya Wethers, Dia Dearstyne, Heather Olson, Kay Ottinger, Tara Sheena, and Tara Willis. The set design is by Wade Kavanaugh and Stephen B. Nguyen, who contributed the twisted paper sculptures for Baldwin’s Oxbow at the BAM Fisher in November 2014 (the night we saw it, an ill Cassella was replaced by Luke Miller), with sound by Justin Jones, lighting by Chloe Z. Brown, and costumes by Mindy Nelson. But don’t expect overly sentimental movement filled with sadness; Baldwin favors mystery and absurdity, and, in a rare turn for her detailed perfectionism, has given the dancers the opportunity for structured improvisation. Thus, each show will be different, just as each day is different as people deal with personal loss in their own way.

CELEBRATE ISRAEL ALL TOGETHER!

All are welcome at Celebrate Israel Parade on June 4

CELEBRATE ISRAEL PARADE
57th to 74th St. up Fifth Ave.
Sunday, June 4, free, 12 noon – 4:00 pm
celebrateisraelny.org

On May 14, 1948, “The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel” proclaimed, “The State of Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice, and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race, or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education, and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.” Israel’s existence has been fraught with controversy since the very beginning, and there have been recent issues involving President Trump, but the nation perseveres, and on June 4 its sixty-ninth birthday will be honored with the annual Celebrate Israel Parade. This year’s theme is “Celebrate Israel All Together!,” a tribute to the ideal of Israel as a model of diversity. As the official parade website explains, “Together, we are stronger. We encourage and support each other; we celebrate our differences and find common ground; we increase our understanding of ourselves, each other, and the world. Our love for Israel unites us throughout history, now and forever! All together, we celebrate Israel!” On Sunday, tens of thousands of marchers are expected to make their way from Fifty-Seventh to Seventy-Fourth St. up Fifth Ave. Among the performers will be Avram Pengas & the Noga Group, Galgal Ba’Ma’agal, Golem, the Israel Dance Institute — Paparim Ensemble Dancers, the Kleztaphobix, Six13, SOULFARM, Yarden Klayman, and Milk & Honeys; David Serero will sing the Hatikva. The grand marshal is Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, with honorary grand marshals Tiki Barber, Nir Barkat, Jamie Geller, and Chaim Gozali. Special guests include Maccabi USA Team, Lenny Krayzelburg, and Arik Ze’evi, along with members of the Israeli Knesset and American public officials. israel day concert

In addition, the unaffiliated Israel Day Concert in Central Park is a free show in Rumsey Playfield (2:30–7:30) that this year pays tribute to the fiftieth anniversary of the Six-Day War and a reunified Jerusalem. There will be live performances by Beri Weber, Tal Vaknin, Elron Zabatani and Shlomi Aharoni, Shloime Dachs Orchestra & Singers, Avi Kilimnick, Michoel Pruzandsky, Mati Shriki, Dr. Meyer Abittan, Jerry Markowitz, Chaim Kiss, Izzy Kieffer and Heshy R, White Shabbos, and others, as well as a lineup of mostly hawkish speakers: Danny Danon, John Bolton, Major Pete Hegseth, Boris Epshteyn, Danny Dayan, Aaron Klein, Lt. Col. Yoni Chetboun, Nir Barkat, and Morton Klein.

STAY THE NIGHT

THE PAUL FEIG Z’’L TIKKUN 2017
JCC in Manhattan
334 Amsterdam Ave. at West 76th St.
Tuesday, May 30, free, 10:00 pm – 5:00 am
646-505-5708
www.jccmanhattan.org

The Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which means “weeks” or “oaths,” celebrates the harvest and the reacceptance of the gift of the Torah. It is accompanied by all-night study, so the JCC in Manhattan is opening its doors for free from ten o’clock in the evening on May 30 through five o’clock the next morning, hosting seven hours of dozens of special events throughout the building, from the lobby to the roof. “There is no one right way to be Jewish. There is no one right way to celebrate Shavuot,” Rabbi Abigail Treu, the director of the Center for Jewish Living at the JCC, said in a statement. “If it’s a holiday you do and do well, come join us. If it’s a holiday you’ve never heard of, come join us. If it’s a Tuesday night and you’re up for an adventure, come join us.” Below are only some of the workshops, discussions, live performances, culinary tastings, and, yes, study being held in this overnight bonanza; there will also be plenty of cheesecake, coffee, and tea.

Mikvah on the Roof: Transformation Through Water, with Rabbi Sara Luria & ImmerseNYC faculty, 10:00 pm – 2:45 am

Inequality: What Can Be Done? The Biblical Economies of Sufficiency, with Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller, Makom, seventh floor, 10:00 pm

Free Minds: Prison Poetry Workshop, with Repair the World Fellows, mezzanine, 10:00 pm

L’chayim! Israeli Wine Tasting, with Micah Halpern, classroom 2, lobby, 10:00 & 11:15 pm

The Decline and Fall of the Cultural Jew, with John Podhoretz, seventh floor reception room, 11:15 pm

Toward a Liberating Jewish Sexual Ethic: Between Openness and Limits, with Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller & Doreen Seidler-Feller, Painting + Drawing room, lobby, 11:15 pm

Immigrants and Refugees from Genesis to 2017, with Congressman Jerry Nadler & Ruth Messinger, North Gym, third floor, 11:15 pm

Revelation Through Meditation, with Sheldon Lewis, Soft Studio, fifth floor, 11:15 pm

On the Development of Moral Courage, with Ruth Messinger, Beit Midrash, seventh floor, 12:30 am

Jewish Millennials Talk Broadway, with Sas Goldberg, Philip Ettinger, and Joshua Harmon, moderated by Ruthie Fierberg, North Gym, third floor, 12:30 am

If We All Stood at Sinai, Where Do We Stand Now? A Conversation About What This Holiday Asks of Us, with Abigail Pogrebin, Rabbi Andy Bachman, Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, and Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller, South Gym, third floor, 12:30 am

L’chayim! A Taste of Schnapps (Scotch Tasting), with Micah Halpern, classroom 2, lobby, 12:30 am

Would the Rabbis Have Tweeted? Midrashic Teachings for the Social Media Age, with Rachel Rosenthal, Library, seventh floor, 12:30 am

My Body. My Choice? with Adena Berkowitz, Painting + Drawing room, lobby, 12:30 am

Laughter Yoga, with Francine Shore, Dance Studio, fourth floor, 12:30 am

Dance Midrash: Una Velada en Danza i Canto, Guarding Shavuot in Dance and Song, with Rabbi Mira Rivera & Jerome Korman, second floor communal space, 1:45 am

New Israeli TV, lobby auditorium, 1:45 & 3:00 am

Israeli Dance with Tamar Yablonski, North Gym, third floor, 1:45 & 3:00 am

Less Is More: An Intriguing Talmudic Story, with Joe Septimus, Conference Room, seventh floor, 3:00 am

Stand It Up on Its Feet: The Prophetic Voice for Social Activists, with Rabbi Mira Rivera, Reception Room, seventh floor, 3:00 am

Bringing It Home Closing Circle, lobby, 4:15 am

PASSPORT TO TAIWAN

passport to taiwan

Union Square Park North
Sunday, May 28, free, 12 noon – 5:00 pm
p2tw.org

Held in conjunction with Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, the sixteenth annual Passport to Taiwan festival will take place Sunday, May 28, in Union Square Park. The afternoon will feature live performances by Spintop Snipers, Chai Found, Journey to Broadway, Alvin Ailey Dancers, Formosa Melody, Music Center, and Hello Taiwan Tour; such Taiwanese delights as pan-fried dumplings and noodles, intestine vermicelli, Taiwanese tempura, rice dumplings, red sticky rice cakes, lobabeng, steamed crystal meatballs, mango and red bean shaved ice, oyster pancakes, grilled sausage, taro cake, guabao, smoked duck, and crispy giant squid; exhibits from Notable Taiwanese American Project, Bike Tour with Steven Huang, Compassionate Taiwan with Tzu-Chi Foundation, Famous Taiwan Cuisine Connoisseur — Amazing Gourmet Demonstrations, Hakka Culture Experience, and Shiisu Old Street Cultural Mart of Tainan; and children’s games, calligraphy masters, arts & crafts, and more.

RESTLESS CREATURE: WENDY WHELAN

Ballet star Wendy Whelan invites audiences it to watch her attempt to get back onstage in Restless Creature

RESTLESS CREATURE: WENDY WHELAN (Linda Saffire & Adam Schlesinger, 2016)
Film Forum, 209 West Houston St., 212-727-8110
Film Society of Lincoln Center, Francesca Beale Theater, Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, 144 West 65th St. between Eighth Ave. & Broadway
Opens Wednesday, May 24
www.facebook.com/restlesscreatureww

“I’ve always been extremely devoted to what I do, and I love being a part of the New York City Ballet. But I do feel the ticking clock, and at times I’ve thought, if I don’t dance, I’d rather die. I’ve actually said that,” longtime New York City principal dancer Wendy Whelan says in the intimate and revealing documentary Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan. Whelan gave directors and producers Linda Saffire and Adam Schlesinger remarkable access as she faces a turning point in her life and career. In 2013, she began to notice she wasn’t getting the parts she used to excel in and decided to get reconstructive hip surgery, hoping that she could return to dancing full-time, at top level. She allows Saffire and Schlesinger into the operating room as Dr. Marc J. Philippon performs the procedure on her torn right labrum. “Ballerinas are probably God’s best athletes,” Dr. Philippon, says. The film then documents her hard-fought battle to return to the stage, as it’s unclear that she will ever regain her skills — or if Peter Martins and the New York City Ballet will even want her back. “What the fuck is this gonna be like when I can’t do this anymore,” she wonders, later adding, “I need to get back in the game, because I don’t have a ton of time left at my game.” With an inspiring dedication, brave honesty, and self-deprecating sense of humor, Whelan, who turned fifty earlier this month, works with physical therapists Marika Molnar and James Gallegro and discusses options with her husband, choreographer and creative director David Michalek; her manager, Ilter Abramowitz; her mother, Kay; and friends Adam Barrett and Maria Scherer, holding nothing back about the choices she must make. Concerned that soon she will not physically be able to be at her best in ballet, she starts the “Restless Creature” contemporary dance project with choreographers Kyle Abraham, Josh Beamish, Brian Brooks, and Alejandro Cerrudo. But she still aches to return to her home of thirty years, the New York City Ballet, where decades of balletomanes, twi-ny included, have thrilled to her technical precision, insight, musicality, and breathtakingly beautiful line.

Wendy Whelan faces a crossroads in her career in intimate and revealing documentary

Saffire and Schlesinger, who previously collaborated on such documentaries as Smash His Camera and Sporting Dreams, combine home movies and photos with lovely clips of Whelan in pieces by Christopher Wheeldon, George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Jerome Robbins, and Alexei Ratmansky. They mix in scenes of her being interviewed by dance writers, partying with friends and colleagues, talking with former dancers Jock Soto and Philip Neal, and rehearsing with NYCB soloist Craig Hall and principal dancer Tyler Angle. Only once during the year-and-a-half shoot did Whelan ask for privacy; otherwise, her life is an open book, and it’s both exhilarating and heartbreaking to watch, as the film is about much more than just one artist’s struggle to remain relevant; it’s an inherently relatable story about the effects of age, how each of us might react to the inevitable decline of the body. Whelan expresses how hard it is to know that there are certain moves she will never be able to perform again, no matter how well her rehab goes, so there is an underlying sadness throughout the film even as we cheer her on to accomplish her lofty goals. But what really makes the film work is Whelan herself; all of the behind-the-scenes intrigue and personal reflections are fascinating, but Whelan proves to be an extraordinary human being. “You changed how people behave in this profession,” former principal dancer and current Pacific Northwest Ballet artistic director Peter Boal tells her. Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan will likely make many viewers take a good look at their own future with new enthusiasm as they approach critical crossroads. The film opens May 24 at Film Forum and Lincoln Center; there will be Q&As with Whelan, Saffire, and Schlesinger (sometimes joined by executive producer Diana DiMenna) at the former on May 25 and May 26 at 7:00 and May 27 at 4:40 and at the latter on May 24 at 7:00, May 25 at 5:00, May 27 at 7:00, and May 28 at 1:00.