Tag Archives: Molly Lieber

MARIA HASSABI: MOVEMENT #2

Maria Hassabi and Hristoula Harakas head back outdoors for three free performances on the High Line this week (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Who: Maria Hassabi
What: High Line Performances
Where: The High Line, West 30th St. & Twelfth Ave.
When: June 28-30, free, 7:00
Why: We’d follow Cyprus-born, New York City–based dancer and choreographer Maria Hassabi just about anywhere to see her unique, intense performances. We’ve seen her crawl across cobblestones on Broad St., slither up and down stairs at MoMA, wrestle with a carpet at PS122, and wind her way through the audience on the floor of the Kitchen. On June 26, 27, and 28 at 7:00, Hassabi will be on the High Line at the Rail Yards at West Thirtieth St., presenting the site-specific Movement #2. The beautiful elevated park is in full bloom now, so it should provide a splendid backdrop for Hassabi’s thirty-minute show, an informal preview of her next full-length piece, Staged, which will have its world premiere at the Kitchen October 4-8 as part of FIAF’s annual Crossing the Line Festival. Movement #2 features Simon Courchel, Hristoula Harakas, Molly Lieber, and Oisín Monaghan in separate parts of the park; viewers must move around in order to see them all, which is of course part of the fun. (Admission is free; no advance RSVP is required.)

MARIA HASSABI: PLASTIC

(photo by Julieta Cervantes / (c) Museum of Modern Art)

Maria Hassabi rehearses PLASTIC at MoMA on October 30, 2015 (photo by Julieta Cervantes / © Museum of Modern Art)

Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53rd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
February 21 – March 20, free with museum admission ($14-$25)
212-708-9400
www.moma.org
mariahassabi.com

In a 2011 twi-ny talk, Cyprus-born, New York City–based dancer and choreographer Maria Hassabi declared, “I was born flexible!” That statement is true not only of the remarkable things she can do with her body but also of where she performs her impressive, often painfully slow movement. We’ve seen her wrestle with a carpet at PS122, maneuver through a packed house seated on the floor at the Kitchen, and crawl down the cobblestoned path of Broad St. Ever investigating the relationship between performer and audience as well as dance and object — in 2012, Hassabi collaborated with Lutz Bacher and Tony Conrad on “Chandeliers,” in which more than a dozen light fixtures descended from floor to ceiling over the course of the day at the Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève — Hassabi next will set up shop at the Museum of Modern Art, where she will present Plastic for one month. Every day from February 21 to March 20, Hassabi and her team of dancers will be at several locations in MoMA, moving among the visitors, so watch out where you walk, because there will be no barriers separating them from you. You’ll find Simon Courchel, Jessie Gold, Neil Greenberg, Elizabeth Hart, Kennis Hawkins, Niall Jones, Shelley Senter, RoseAnne Spradlin, and David Thomson in the Donald B. and Catherine C. Marron Atrium, Hassabi, Hristoula Harakas, Molly Lieber, Paige Martin, and Oisín Monaghan on the Marron Atrium and Agnes Gund Garden Lobby staircase, and Jones, Michael Helland, Tara Lorenzen, and Mickey Mahar on the staircase between the fourth- and fifth-floor galleries. The sound design is by Morten Norbye Halvorsen, with song fragments by Marina Rosenfeld. “Taking place underfoot in the transitional spaces of a museum known for its crowds, the work can be seen from multiple vantage points and inverts the typical relationship between performer and viewer so that it is the dancer who appears static and the onlooker who moves,” writes MoMA associate curator Thomas J. Lax in the brochure for the living installation, which was co-commissioned by MoMA, the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. On February 24 at 7:00 ($8-$12) in the atrium, Hassabi will discuss the work with Philip Bither of the Walker Art Center.

IN THE WORKS

Emily Johnson is among those presenting works-in-progress at Gibney Dance on January 17

Who: Fifteen choreographers
What: In the Works at 890 Broadway
Where: Gibney Dance, 890 Broadway between 19th & 20th Sts., free with advance RSVP, 212-677-8560
When: Sunday, January 17, free with advance RSVP, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm
Why: Gibney Dance will be offering sneak peeks at works-in-progress by some of the dance world’s most exciting and innovative choreographers on Sunday, January 17, from 10:00 am to 3:30 pm. “In the Works” consists of fifteen-to-forty-minute showcases by Dance in Process Resident Artists Beth Gill, Amanda Loulaki, Juliana May, Pavel Zustiak, and Tere O’Connor, Meredith Boggia Artists K. J. Holmes, Ivy Baldwin Dance, Katie Workum, Molly Lieber and Eleanor Smith, and Emily Johnson, and American Dance Institute Artists Joanna Kotze, Steven Reker, John Jasperse, and Chris Schlichting. Admission is free, but advance RSVP is strongly suggested; we particularly recommend checking out May, Jasperse, Johnson, and Lieber and Smith, all of whom have been featured in twi-ny in recent years.

DONNA UCHIZONO AND THE PROFESSIONALS: STICKY MAJESTY

Donna Uchizono and the Professionals will present STICKY MAJESTY at Gibney Dance (photo by Donna Uchizono)

MAKING SPACE
Gibney Dance Performing Arts Center
280 Broadway between Chambers & Reade Sts.
January 6-9, 13-16, $20, 8:00 (7:00 on Family Night, 1/7)
646-837-6809
www.gibneydance.org
www.donnauchizono.org

New York City-based dancer and choreographer Donna Uchizono enjoys making pieces that challenge both performer and audience while also incorporating deeply personal elements and unique stagecraft. In 1999’s State of Heads, three dancers start off atop ladders, moving only their heads. In 2004’s Butterflies from My Hand, dancer Hristoula Harakas is lifted skyward by a long red sash. In 2010’s longing two, the first part took place at BAC, where the dancers performed between two horizontal partitions, giving each audience member a different siteline, while the second part moved to the old DTW. Both longing two and 2014’s Fire Underground were inspired by the difficulties Uchizono experienced adopting a child; in the latter piece, the audience sat onstage as Uchizono and Becky Serrell-Cyr ran around the floor, Serrell-Cyr dangerously swinging a long, chained object as she removed her clothing. For Uchizono’s latest work, Sticky Majesty, taking place January 6-9 and 13-16 at Gibney Dance, the seating arrangement and choreography have been set up so that every audience member will get a different view of the performance and no single angle is considered optimum. The work, part of Gibney’s Making Space program geared toward midcareer artists — Uchizono just celebrated her company’s twenty-fifth anniversary — evolved from individual tea-time conversations Uchizono had with invited guests from around the sociopolitical spectrum. “Sticky Majesty delves into the unsettling paradoxes of defining truth through distorted perspectives,” she says about the piece, which is being credited to Donna Uchizono and the Professionals. The work — whose title could be a clever wording based on the Rolling Stones albums Sticky Fingers and Their Satanic Majesties Request — will be performed by Hadar Ahuvia, Sarah Iguchi, Molly Lieber, Heather Olson, and Meg Weeks, with lighting by Natalie Robin, music by David Shively, and set design by Michael Grimaldi. The January 7 show will be held at 7:00 (instead of 8:00) and will provide onsite childcare ($10) for kids ages four and up. Tickets for Sticky Majesty are $20, but the price goes down to $14 if you go to at least one other Making Space show, Jack Ferver’s Mon, Ma, Mes (Revisité) and/or luciana achugar’s An Epilogue for OTRO TEATRO: True Love.

COIL 2015 — MOLLY LIEBER + ELEANOR SMITH: RUDE WORLD

Molly Lieber and Eleanor Smith come together as one in revealing new work (photo by Maria Baranova)

The Chocolate Factory Theater
5-49 49th Ave., Long Island City
January 7-12, $20
718-482-7069
www.ps122.org/rude-world
www.chocolatefactorytheater.org

With Rude World, Molly Lieber and Eleanor Smith conclude their intimate trilogy that started with 2012’s Beautiful Bone and continued with 2013’s Tulip, a trio of works danced and choreographed by the two women, who have been collaborating since 2006. Part of PS122’s COIL festival, Rude World takes place in the black box space at Long Island City’s Chocolate Factory, with two rows of folding chairs at the north and south ends and black curtains forming the east and west sides. The forty-five-minute improvisation-based performance begins as Lieber and Smith, both naked, enter the small, dark room. Lieber sits on a reserved chair as Smith stands right in front of her. Over the course of several minutes, Lieber slowly caresses Smith’s body, from shoulder blades to calves, while her face moves into Smith’s backside. The only sound heard is that of a far-off ventilation system, barely audible, as well as the soft gulps of the audience members. The opening sets the tone for the rest of the show, as each dancer gets a solo in which they embrace the space with runs and jumps; in between, the central section features their bodies entwining, virtually becoming one as they twist, turn, and roll, pushing and pulling each other, using various body parts in a creative vocabulary of movement bordering on the sexual. They also stand face-first against the black curtain, slowly moving up and down as if trying to merge with the barrier. Through it all, Madeline Best’s lighting shifts ever so subtly, melding with the silence, which is interrupted only by Lieber’s and Smith’s heavy breathing — and yet more audience gulps.

Developed during a residency at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, Rude World is a mesmerizing work that gently tantalizes and taunts the audience. Lieber, who has danced for luciana achugar, Neil Greenberg, Maria Hassabi, Juliette Mapp, and Melinda Ring, and Smith, who has performed with Ivy Baldwin, Katie Workum, Juliana F. May, Vanessa Anspaugh, and Molly Poerstel, boldly reveal themselves, daring the crowd to look at them and their bodies. The piece gets confusing when each dancer puts on at least one article of clothing, perhaps emphasizing the nudity too much. But the brief wardrobe changes also tell the audience that the dancers know that they’re being examined in a way costumed dancers aren’t, with usually hidden body parts on view and moving along with hands, legs, heads, etc. Of course, nudity in contemporary dance is nothing new, but it can still be bold and thrilling when used in intelligent, unique ways.

JANUARY PERFORMANCE FESTIVALS

Who: COIL
What: Interdisciplinary festival featuring dance, theater, music, art, and discussion, organized by PS 122
Where: Baryshnikov Arts Center, Chocolate Factory, Vineyard Theatre, Invisible Dog Art Center, the Swiss Institute, Asia Society, Parkside Lounge, New Ohio Theatre, Danspace Project, Times Square
When: January 2-17, free – $30
Why: Dancers and choreographers Molly Lieber and Eleanor Smith in Rude World; Temporary Distortion’s durational multimedia live installation My Voice Has an Echo in It; Faye Driscoll’s extraordinary, interactive Thank You for Coming: Attendance; Alexandra Bachzetsis’s Diego Velázquez-inspired From A to B via C

Who: Under the Radar Festival and Incoming!
What: Interdisciplinary festival featuring dance, theater, music, and art, organized by the Public Theater
Where: The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St., and La MaMa, 74 East Fourth St.
When: January 7-18, free – $40
Why: Daniel Fish’s A (radically condensed and expanded) Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again based on audio recordings of David Foster Wallace; Marie-Caroline Hominal’s The Triumph of Fame, a one-on-one performance inspired by Petrarch’s “I Trionfi”; Taylor Mac’s A 24-Decade History of Popular Music: 1900-1950s; Toshi Reagon’s Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower: The Concert Version; Reggie Watts’s Audio Abramović, in which Watts will go eye-to-eye with individuals for five minutes

Who: American Realness
What: Interdisciplinary festival featuring dance, theater, music, art, conversation, discussion, readings, and a workshop, organized by Abrons Arts Center
Where: Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand St.
When: January 8-18, $20
Why: World premiere of Jack Ferver’s Night Light Bright Light; Cynthia Hopkins’s A Living Documentary; Tere O’Connor’s Undersweet; Luciana Achugar’s Otro Teatro: The Pleasure Project; My Barbarian’s The Mother and Other Plays; Dynasty Handbag’s Soggy Glasses, a Homo’s Odyssey

Who: Prototype
What: Festival of opera, theater, music, and conversation
Where: HERE, St. Paul’s Chapel, La MaMa, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Park Ave. Armory, Joe’s Pub
When: January 8-17, $22-$75
Why: The Scarlet Ibis, inspired by James Hurst’s 1960 short story; Carmina Slovenica’s Toxic Psalms; Bora Yoon’s Sunken Cathedral; Ellen Reid and Amanda Jane Shark’s Winter’s Child

Who: Winter Jazzfest NYC
What: More than one hundred jazz groups playing multiple venues in and around Greenwich Village
Where: The Blue Note, (le) poisson rouge, Judson Church, the Bitter End, Subculture, Bowery Electric, others
When: January 8-10, $25-$145
Why: Catherine Russell, David Murray Infinity Quartet with Saul Williams, Jovan Alexandre & Collective Consciousness, Marc Ribot & the Young Philadelphians with Strings, So Percussion Feat. Man Forever, Theo Bleckmann Quartet with Ambrose Akinmusire, and David Murray Clarinet Summit with Don Byron, David Krakauer, and Hamiet Bluiett

MOLLY LIEBER + ELEANOR SMITH: BEAUTIFUL BONE

Molly Lieber and Eleanor Smith team up for BEAUTIFUL BONE at the Chocolate Factory

The Chocolate Factory
5-49 49th Ave., Long Island City
February 29 – March 3, $15, 8:00
718-482-7069
www.chocolatefactorytheater.org

Pittsburgh native Molly Lieber and Eleanor Smith, who hails from North Carolina, have been teaming up to present their own works since 2006 while also dancing for many other companies. Their latest collaboration, Beautiful Bone, which premieres at the Chocolate Factory in Long Island City this week, examines shame and love through imagination and feeling. The evening-length piece features sound design by James Lo, costume design and construction by Shelley Smith, and lighting by Madeline Best, who performed with Smith in a reprise of Juliana F. May / MAYDANCE’s Gutter Gate at New York Live Arts in January as part of APAP/NYC. Smith will also be presenting a Studio Series work at NYLA in June that will include an In Process Talk with May.