25 to watch: Dance Magazine predicts who's new and breaking through for 2004.GEORGE PIPER DANCES NOEMIE LAFRANCE BENJAMIN LEVY DOMINIC WALSH DANCE THEATER Dominic Walsh Dance Theater is a contemporary dance company based in Houston Texas. Started by artistic director and former principal dancer for the Houston Ballet, Dominic Walsh, DWDT ranges from progressive to classical choreography. STELLA ABRERA DAVID David, in the Bible David, d. c.970 B.C., king of ancient Israel (c.1010–970 B.C.), successor of Saul. The Book of First Samuel introduces him as the youngest of eight sons who is anointed king by Samuel to replace Saul, who had been deemed a failure. HALLBERG VERB BALLETS CATHY MARSTON MATJASH MROZEWSKI NICOLAS NICOLAS Network Information Center On-Line Aid System BLANC VIENGSAY VALDES REVEALING THE EMOTIONAL BODY EMILY PATTERSON JANICE GARRETT SETH Seth, in the Bible Seth, in the Bible, son of Adam and Eve, father of Enosh. In the chronology in the Gospel of St. Luke, Seth is an ancestor of Jesus. The Nag Hammadi codices preserve revelatory discourses ascribed to or allegedly emanating from Seth. ORZA PETER BOAL AND COMPANY JASON Jason, in Greek mythology Jason, in Greek mythology, son of Aeson. When Pelias usurped the throne of Iolcus and killed (or imprisoned) Aeson and most of his descendants, Jason was smuggled off to the centaur Chiron, who reared him secretly on Mt. Pelion. SAMUELS-SMITH MARGIE GILLIS ERICK MONTES BRADON MCDONALD PAULETTE BEAUCHAMP TRAIN WRECK VINCENT VINCENT Vital Information Necessary Centralized (movie, The Black Hole) MANTSOE LARRY KEIGWIN CHRISTOPHER STOWELL GEORGE PIPER DANCES Brave New World Brave New World Aldous Huxley’s grim picture of the future, where scientific and social developments have turned life into a tragic travesty. [Br. Lit.: Magill I, 79] See : Dystopia Brave New World BY MARGARET WILLIS With Greek god-like physiques, classical lines, vitality, and sensitivity, George Piper Dances continues to scale new peaks. Michael (George) Nunn and William (Piper) Trevitt bravely left luminous careers with The Royal Ballet and, since 2001, have steadily earned themselves a devoted following in Britain and Europe with their exciting group of five dancers. Top choreographers are falling over themselves to produce works for the multitalents and 2004 promises to keep the spotlight on them with tours planned for the United States and Canada, Hungary, and Australia. The two founders, also known as the Ballet Boyz, produce and host a series of piquant television dance programs--the next, on the art of choreography, to be aired this summer in Britain. Watch as Nunn and Trevitt begin to experiment with new ways of incorporating film into their stimulating stage shows and to fuse their dance style with other art forms, and perform in unconventional venues. www.gpdances.com Margaret Willis writes from London for DANCE MAGAZINE, Dancing Times, Dance Europe and the Bolshoi Theatre magazine. NOEMIE LAFRANCE Site-Specific Wizard BY GIA Noun 1. GIA - a terrorist organization of Islamic extremists whose violent activities began in 1992; aims to overthrow the secular Algerian regime and replace it with an Islamic state; "the GIA has embarked on a terrorist campaign of civilian massacres" KOURLAS Certain choreographers spend more time focusing on what a dance feels like than the way it looks. But site-specific wizard Noemie Lafrance realizes that the art form has the potential to be physically gratifying grat·i·fy tr.v. grat·i·fied, grat·i·fy·ing, grat·i·fies 1. To please or satisfy: His achievement gratified his father. See Synonyms at please. 2. for everyone involved. In her Bessie-Award-winning Descent, audience members trailed behind performers on a twelve-story staircase in a lower Manhattan City Court building. In the creepily beautiful Melt, a fifteen-minute work presented over the summer in a Brooklyn art gallery, the audience gazed at glistening glis·ten intr.v. glis·tened, glis·ten·ing, glis·tens To shine by reflection with a sparkling luster. See Synonyms at flash. n. A sparkling, lustrous shine. dancers who were strapped to a cement wall and literally dripping with wax--just as they seemed to dissolve, so did you. But her biggest challenge is her forthcoming Noir, (June, 2004), which explores aspects of film noir and takes place in a parking garage. This time, as audience members sit in actual cars, Lafrance unveils a surreal world, tinged with suspense--and even more exciting, her usual overflowing pot of imagination. www.sensproduction.org. Gia Kourlas is dance editor for Time Out New York. BENJAMIN LEVY A Balance of Brain and Brawn BY HEATHER WISNER As an emerging choreographer, Benjamin Levy could have fallen into any number of traps--favoring flash over substance, for example, or sacrificing entertainment for concept--when his Bay Area-based company LEVYdance debuted in May 2003. But Levy's concert was a judicious balance of athletic and lyrical, brainy and sexy, with a tightly edited program that left viewers wanting more. Levy draws from an academic background--he and most of his five dancers studied at University of California The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). Berkeley under Graham preservationist pres·er·va·tion·ist n. One who advocates preservation, especially of natural areas, historical sites, or endangered species. pres Marni Wood--but his work is more evocative than intellectual. The dancers threw themselves into combat, wrestling matches, and one-off tangos. One dancer's traipse over a billowing bil·low n. 1. A large wave or swell of water. 2. A great swell, surge, or undulating mass, as of smoke or sound. v. bil·lowed, bil·low·ing, bil·lows v.intr. 1. canopy suggested a walk on the moon; another's gymnastics under running water was both dreamlike and unsettling. Levy also dances with the Joe Goode Performance Company; that theatrically driven experience, combined with his own highly visual sense and inventive movement style, promises an interesting future. www.levydance.org Freelance writer Heather Wisner is former associate editor of DANCE MAGAZINE. DOMINIC WALSH DANCE THEATER Moonlighting in Houston BY MOLLY GLENTZER Small wonder Dominic Walsh Dance Theater sold out its debut concerts in February 2003--the founder/director and most of his twelve-plus dancers are passionate, versatile artists from Houston Ballet. And they had a world-class program, with Walsh's Choo San Goh Choo San GOH 吴诸珊 (14 September 1948 - 28 November 1987), choreographer, was born in Singapore, son of Kim Lok Goh, a merchant, and Siew Han Ch’ng. Childhood He was the youngest of ten children. Award-winning Flames of Eros, plus works by Ben Stevenson, Natalie Weir, and Mario Zambrano. In November, 2003, DWDT DWDT Dominic Walsh Dance Theater (Houston, TX) premiered Walsh's first narrative work, The Miller's Daughter, based on Franz Schubert's songs to Wilhelm Muller's poems. Walsh, who turns 33 this month isn't ready to hang up his Houston Ballet shoes yet--look for him in Frederick Ashton's La Fille Mal Gardee in June. But he's building DWDT "a little bit each year." Plans for a summer 2004 tour are in the works. www.dwdt.org. Molly Glentzer is the dance critic for the Houston Chronicle. STELLA ABRERA Hollywood Glamour BY HANNA RUBIN If Stella Abrera had been discovered in Hollywood's golden age, she'd have ended up on celluloid in form-fitting decolletage dé·colle·tage n. 1. A low neckline on a woman's garment, especially a dress. 2. A dress with a low neckline in front. . Her glamour and sex appeal come from another era, one when stars like Rita Hayworth danced across the screen. But that was then and this is now, and it is ballet lovers who can enjoy Abrera's steady rise at American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre, one of the foremost international dance companies of the 20th cent. It was founded in 1937 as the Mordkin Ballet and reorganized as the Ballet Theatre in 1940 under the direction of Lucia Chase and Rich Pleasant. . Promoted from the corps to soloist in 2001, Abrera brings a striking presence to an unusually broad range of choreography. "Stella possesses a special combination of genuine lyricism and sensuality," says choreographer Ann Reinking, who worked with Abrera on the pas de deux pas de deux (French; “step for two”) Dance for two performers. A characteristic part of classical ballet, it includes an adagio, or slow dance, by the ballerina and her partner; solo variations by the male dancer and then the ballerina; and a coda, or that she created for Within You, Without You: A Tribute to George Harrison, a sensual encounter that Abrera flung herself into. It's a measure of ABT's expectations for Abrera that during its 2003 New York spring season, she was cast opposite celebrated Royal Ballet star Alina Cojocaru in La Bayadere ba·ya·dere n. A fabric with contrasting horizontal stripes. [French bayadère, from Portuguese bailadeira, dancer, from bailar, to dance, from Late Latin . Debuting in the role of Gamzatti, Abrera gave a passionate, imperious performance, proving herself not merely a dancer to watch, but one to applaud. www.abt.org. Hanna Rubin is managing editor for DANCE MAGAZINE. DAVID HALLBERG On the Fast Track BY CLIVE BARNES Even to stand out amid the overall excellence of the male corps de ballet corps de bal·let n. The dancers in a ballet troupe who perform as a group. [French : corps, corps + de, of + ballet, ballet. of American Ballet Theatre is in itself an achievement. But the lean and tall South Dakota-born David Hallberg doesn't just stand out, he jumps out. He started tap dancing at 10, and began formal ballet classes with Kee Juan Han at the Arizona Ballet School in Phoenix. He finished his classical training at the Paris Opera Ballet The Paris Opéra Ballet is the official ballet company of the Opéra national de Paris, otherwise known as the Palais Garnier, though known more popularly simply as the Paris Opéra. School, joined ABT's Studio Company in September 2000, and was taken into the main company just six months later. Since then he has danced such leading roles as Espada in Don Quixote, Second Sailor in Fancy Free, Benno in Swan Lake, Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet star-crossed lovers die as teenagers. [Br. Lit.: Romeo and Juliet] See : Death, Premature Romeo and Juliet archetypal star-crossed lovers. [Br. Lit. , First Movement in Symphony in C Symphony in C may refer to a number of symphonies written in the key of C Major:
adj. That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. his promotion first to soloist then principal is more a matter of when than whether. www.abt.org. Senior Consulting Editor Clive Barnes, who covers dance and theater for the New York Post The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and the oldest to have been published continually as a daily.[3] Since 1976, it has been owned by Australian-born billionaire Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation and is one of the 10 , has contributed to DANCE MAGAZINE since 1956. VERB BALLETS Awe-Inspiring Rise BY STEVE SUCATO The first performance of Cleveland Repertory Project, under newly appointed Artistic Director Hernando Cortez in 2003, might best be described as a dance community version of "Shock and Awe Shock and awe, technically known as rapid dominance, is a military doctrine based on the use of overwhelming decisive force, dominant battlefield awareness, dominant maneuvers, and spectacular displays of power to paralyze an adversary's perception of the battlefield and ." Overnight the Ohio-based contemporary dance company was catapulted from relative obscurity onto the national stage. Within a year of his arrival from New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , Cortez, a former member of the Paul Taylor Dance Company Paul Taylor Dance Company, is a contemporary dance company, formed by Paul Taylor, an American choreographers of the 20th century. One of the early touring companies of American modern dance, the Company has "performed in more than 500 cities in 62 countries"[1] , revamped the company, renamed it VERB Ballets, embarked it on a limited national tour that includes a NYC NYC abbr. New York City NYC New York City debut, and secured a season sponsorship from Danskin. The superb dancers of VERB Ballets are certain to inspire further awe in 2004 when the company performs works by Martha Graham, David Parsons, and Taylor, as well as Cortez's new Moondogg, celebrating the birth of rock 'n' roll rock 'n' roll: see rock music. . About the name change, Cortez says, "I want VERB Ballets to be a name people will recognize on a national level." www.repertoryproject.org Steve Sucato is a dance writer and critic based in Erie, Pennsylvania. CATHY MARSTON A New Story at the Royal BY DONALD HUTERA British choreographer Cathy Marston's talent and potential have secured her a plum position as the first artistic associate of ROH ROH Alcohol (chemistry) ROH Royal Opera House ROH Ring of Honor (wrestling organization) ROH Run of the House (hospitality industry) ROH Royal Ottawa Hospital 2, a Royal Opera House initiative that spurs artistic collaborations and the development of new artists. Marston, who trained at The Royal Ballet Upper School, is a splendid choice for ROH2. Her choreography demonstrates a keen interest in dramatic narrative, often from a literary or biographical source, and communicated via a fusion of contemporary and ballet techniques. She couples a facility for fast, fiendishly detailed and lyrical partnering with an eye for satisfying ensemble patterns. In February, Marston will produce a pair of one-acts to complement the Royal Opera's staging of Shakespeare's The Tempest, as adapted by Thomas Ades. In mid-June she contributes to an evening commemorating the seventy fifth anniversary of Diaghilev's death. Next year will see the premiere of her second commission from English National Ballet English National Ballet, founded in 1950 as the "Festival Ballet" inspired by the then imminent Festival of Britain, is one of the leading ballet companies in the United Kingdom founded by Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin, with the financial backing of Polish impresario Julian , and from there it's only a matter of time before Marston gets what she deserves--her first crack at a full-length ballet. http://info.royaloperahouse.org/ROHtoo Donald Hutera writes about dance for the Times of London, Time Out London, and Dance Europe. MATJASH MROZEWSKI Fearless Innovator BY PAULA CITRON Since leaving The National Ballet of Canada National Ballet of Canada, the leading Canadian ballet company. Based in Toronto, it was founded (1951) by Celia Franca (1921–2007) and modeled on Sadler's Wells (now the Royal Ballet). in 2001 as a second soloist, hot new choreographic talent Matjash Mrozewski, 27, has been much in demand. In just three years, the Toronto-based dancesmith has set fifteen works on companies on both sides of the Canadian-American border, with a sidetrip to Copenhagen International Ballet in 2002. Equally at home in ballet or contemporary dance, Mrozewski's works are hallmarked by his fearless love of innovation, with each successive piece radically different from the one before. Beautifully conceived, and demanding in execution, a Mrozewski piece is, by nature, dramatic and provocative. "I speak with the language of dance," he says, "but in the sensibility of theatre." The 2003-2004 season widens Mrozewski's international horizons. In September, 2003, Western Australian Ballet presented his stunningly successful A Delicate Battle, which was created for the National in 2001, while the Royal Ballet will unveil his Diaghilev homage in May, 2004. Paula Citron is a Toronto-based freelance arts journalist. NICOLAS BLANC Boy Wonder BY ALLAN ULRICH At 26, he looks like a lycee student who has lingered a bit too long at school, but the San Francisco Ballet's latest Gallic import moves like a dark angel--fast, fearless, and without mercy. He boasts the training (Paris Opera Ballet School), experience (Zurich Ballet), and laurels (gold medal at the Biarritz International Dance Competition) that seem mandatory for conquering America. Little wonder that, although fresh off the plane and six months before his debut in SFB's home theater, choreographer Christopher Wheeldon cast him for a lead part in his Edinburgh Festival premiere, Rush. No surprise Wendy Somes chose him as a side boy in the company's first production of Frederick Ashton's serene Symphonic Variations. In rehearsal, he suggests an uncommon empathy with the troupe's purest classicist clas·si·cist n. 1. One versed in the classics; a classical scholar. 2. An adherent of classicism. 3. An advocate of the study of ancient Greek and Latin. Noun 1. , Tina LeBlanc. The SFB's omnivorous omnivorous eating both plant and animal foods. repertoire offers manifold challenges--a blanc check, if you will, for a career headed for distinction. www.sfballet.org Allan Ulrich is a senior editor at DANCE MAGAZINE. VIENGSAY VALDES A Passion for Technique BY MARY ELLEN HUNT The 27-year old Cuban ballerina Viengsay Valdes could be justly famous for her rock-solid eternal balances, thrilling multiple turns, and bravura technique. But in an age of superlative technicians, it's the passion and heart that Valdes brings to her dancing that has captivated audiences from Havana to Paris. Whether playing an effervescent ef·fer·vesce intr.v. ef·fer·vesced, ef·fer·vesc·ing, ef·fer·vesc·es 1. To emit small bubbles of gas, as a carbonated or fermenting liquid. 2. To escape from a liquid as bubbles; bubble up. 3. Swanhilda in Coppelia or a biting Black Swan, Valdes' every move emerges as a natural expression of her zest for dancing. One of the youngest of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba's primeras ballerinas, Valdes made an auspicious debut as Kitri in Don Quixote at the age of 19, under the demanding tuta ledge of Alicia Alonso. Since then, she's polished all international reputation, partnering with such danseurs as Carlos Acosta, lose Manuel Carreno, and Giuseppe Picone, and winning enthusiastic critical praise. Throughout 2004 Valdes will be dancing and touring with the Ballet Nacional de Cuba National Ballet of Cuba (Ballet Nacional de Cuba), is managed by Cuban prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso and is one of the top ballet companies in the world. The artistic standards and technical severity of the dancers and the wide diversity in the aesthetic , as the company marks its fifty-fifth anniversary. www.balletcuba.cu Mary Ellen Hunt covers dance for the Contra Costa Times The Contra Costa Times is a daily newspaper based in Walnut Creek, California. The paper serves Contra Costa and eastern Alameda counties, in the eastern part of the San Francisco Bay Area. . REVEALING THE EMOTIONAL BODY I Have a Feeling ... BY CHRIS DOHSE Four choreographers in New York have been mining their dancers' emotional behavior in a deeply resonating way. Their work reveals a complex awareness of "affect," the malleable, physical evidence of feeling. In 2003, dances by Aviva Geismar (The Fitting), Fiona Marcotty (You Were. We Are. I Was. I Was), Mollie O'Brien (Triptych), and the Bessie award-winning RoseAnne Spradlin (Under/World), used emotional authenticity as compositional structure. In these dances, performers don't "emote (chat) emote - (emotion) A command used on talk systems and MUDs to indicate the performance of an action, usually a facial expression of emotional state. ," or indicate emotion, they inhabit it fully. Each performance calls for raw, sometimes awkward, exhausting vulnerability. An evolution from the straightforward pedestrian activity of the experimental work of the 1960s, this humanity is fully integrated into realized, individually phrased, physical vocabularies. Watch for new work in 2004 from all four artists in NYC locations. Chris Dohse is senior critic for danceinsider.com. EMILY PATTERSON An Aura of Quiet BY HEDY WEISS WEISS Workshop on Industrial Experience with Systems Software In The Company, Robert Altman's new film about the Joffrey Ballet, Emily Patterson is the delicate, dark-eyed beauty on the swing--the one who captivatingly spins through White Widow, a Moses Pendleton piece she first learned during her two-year stint with MOMIX before joining the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago in 1998. Patterson's performance may suggest a performer with an athletic bent, but she laughs at this idea. And, in fact, it was her transfixing, wholly lyrical turn last season in Gerald Arpino's Italian Suite, in which she used her feathery arms and impossibly supple upper back to exquisite effect, that she made her most indelible impression. Who cares if a teacher used to tell her she looked as if "her arms had been stuck on backward with bubble gum?" Adam Sklute, a Joffrey ballet master, says "Emily creates an aura of quiet when she dances." This season she will dance the role of the ditzy dit·zy adj. Variant of ditsy. ditzy or ditsy Adjective [ditzier, ditziest] or ditsier, ditsiest Slang bride in Ashton's Wedding Bouquet, and the lead in Arpino's revival of Sacred Grove on Mt. Tamalpais. www.joffrey.com Hedy Weiss is dance and theater critic for the Chicago Sun-Times and a commentator on Chicago's public television station, WTTW WTTW Window To The World WTTW Word to the Wise WTTW Wind to Thy Wings . JANICE GARRETT Mainstream Modern Dance BY ALLAN ULRICH A former member of Dan Wagoner and Dancers, Janice Garrett has made a choreographic career of being gloriously unfashionable. No pedestrian gestures to glaze the eye; no taped electronic ephemera to abrade a·brade v. 1. To wear away by mechanical action. 2. To scrape away the surface layer from a part. abrade ( the ear; no agendas to manipulate the sensibilities. Garrett makes dances that idealize i·de·al·ize v. i·de·al·ized, i·de·al·iz·ing, i·de·al·iz·es v.tr. 1. To regard as ideal. 2. To make or envision as ideal. v.intr. 1. bodies flowing through space. She fuses music and movement into organisms that defy reduction into discrete parts. She has been doing this in the San Francisco Bay Area “Bay Area” redirects here. For other uses, see Bay Area (disambiguation). The San Francisco Bay Area, colloquially known as the Bay Area or The Bay and abroad for a decade, often lending luster to humdrum anthology and festival programs. Fourteen months ago, Garrett assembled a company for an entire evening of her works--modern dance as you hoped it would evolve within a sophisticated tradition. The second installment is set for March. In an age when irony prevails, Garrett plays for keeps. Bless her. www.janicegarrettanddancers.org. Allan Ulrich is a senior editor of DANCE MAGAZINE SETH ORZA Master of Modulation BY JOSEPH CARMAN In America's first-rank ballet companies, male dancers with stunning pyrotechnics comprise the norm today, rather than the exception. Rarer are the men who can modulate their energy from role to role with a maturity that emphasizes dynamics. Twenty-two year old Seth Orza, a third year corps de ballet member of New York City Ballet New York City Ballet, one of the foremost American dance companies of the 20th cent. It was founded by Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine as the Ballet Society in 1946. , has exhibited a singular ability to absorb choreographic styles; it's a no-brainer for choreographers to utilize him. A natural partner, Orza has swiftly mastered the company's tricky off-balance style of partnering that has often eluded others. He can turn up the volume, as in the wild duet from Peter Martins's Reliquary--or play pianissimo, represented by the poetic minimalism of Albert Evans's Haiku. In Jerome Robbins's Fancy Free, Orza easily slides into the comic realism of the dreamy sailor. Given the ambitious season planned for the upcoming New York City Ballet Balanchine centennial birthday celebration, expect to see Orza amplify his distinctly versatile talent throughout numerous roles. www.nycballet.com Joseph Carman, a professional ballet dancer now retired, is a frequent contributor to DANCE MAGAZINE, The New York Times, and the Advocate. PETER BOAL AND COMPANY Dancers' Choice BY IRIS FANGER Peter Boal, principal in New York City Ballet and faculty member of the School of American Ballet The School of American Ballet is located in New York City, in Lincoln Center. It is considered one of the most prestigious and notable ballet schools in the United States and teaches some of the most talented young dancers in the country. , is starting a company--one that gives dancers a voice. "The poor dancers are always the last to have a say. They have to wait for both the artistic director and the choreographer to choose them. The premise of this company is that the dancers have a say about the choreographers," he says. Thus when Boal and fellow NYCB NYCB New York City Ballet NYCB New York Community Bank members Wendy Whelan and Scan Suozzi appear in the March debut of Peter Boal and Company at the Joyce Theater, New York, followed by summer engagements in Venice, Italy and Jacob's Pillow, Massachusetts, they will be performing works by dancemakers of their own choice. The list includes George Balanchine (a revival of Paul Taylor's solo from Episodes), William Forsythe, Nacho Duato, and Twyla Tharp, with premieres by Christopher Wheeldon, John Alleyne, and Marco Goecke. www.joyce.org. Iris Fanger is the former director of the Harvard Summer Dance Center. JASON SAMUELS-SMITH Fast Feet BY JANE GOLDBERG Before he died, Gregory Hines called Jason Samuels-Smith, 21, who he had just spied in a tap jam, "possibly the next 'Greatest,'" placing Smith in the same league as John Bubbles, Honi Coles, Baby Laurence, Greg Hines, and Savion Glover when it comes to skill level in feet. After watching Smith's solo performance at the first Los Angeles Tap Festival in August, 2003, I saw what Hines meant. Jason changed the time signatures in his renditions of Fats Waller's "Jitterbug jitterbug Dance variation of the two-step in which couples swing, balance, and twirl in standardized patterns to syncopated music in ⁴⁄₄ time. It originated in the U.S. in the mid 1930s and became internationally popular in the 1940s. Waltz", and Neil Hefti's "Cute" so often that it was hard to keep up with him. He has invented a whole new vocabulary of rapid fire heels and toes. His taps are never so crowded that they overpower his unusually long phrases. He says it was Hines's spirit that drove his wizardry that night. As festival director, Smith's looking forward to making the second LA festival in August 2004 even more brilliant than the first. www.latapfest.com Jane Goldberg writes frequently about tap dancing. Wendy Ballard provided assistance for this piece. MARGIE GILLIS Charismatic Canadian BY LINDE HOWE-BECK For thirty years, Margie Gillis has been a dance phenomenon, a soloist/choreographer whose cathartic dancing "from the inside out," as she calls it, has made her a Canadian cult figure. In December 2003, Gillis celebrated her thirtieth anniversary with a program of new solos in her hometown, Montreal. A retrospective was out of the question, she said, because she was bursting with new choreographic ideas. The show plays New York's Altogether Different Festival starting January 13. Her signature hip-length hair emphasizing every movement, Gillis's emotional dancing defies categorization, although she has been compared to Isadora Duncan for her social activism, integrity, and charisma. In 1979 Gillis became the first modern dancer to perform in postrevolutionary China. She was also the first modern dancer to receive the Order of Canada The Order of Canada is Canada's highest civilian honour within the Canadian system of honours, with membership awarded to those who exemplify the Order's Latin motto Desiderantes meliorem patriam, which means "(those) desiring a better country" (Hebrews 11:16). honoring her contribution to Canadian society. In 2000, Gillis branched out from making intimate solos, duets, and trios, and began choreographing for larger groups. The Alberta Ballet premieres her piece for fourteen dancers on February 13. www.margiegillis.org A Montreal senior dance writer and critic, Linde Howe-Beck has contributed to DANCE MAGAZINE for more than twenty-five years. ERICK MONTES Like a Dream BY KATE MATTINGLY A newcomer arrives in New York City with an eclectic training--swimming, gymnastics, football, and contemporary dance. Three months later he's a member of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. The story sounds Hollywood-esque, but it's reality for Erick Montes. Born in Mexico City in 1979, he performed with Mexican dance companies, most importantly A-Quo, a small ensemble that, in 2002, took part in a commissioned project with choreographer Stephen Petronio. Montes accepted Petronio's offer to work with his troupe as an apprentice and came to Manhattan in September, 2002. On December 18 he went to an audition for Bill T. Jones, a company he'd seen perform once. After three days of eliminations, Jones offered him the job and agreed to process his visa application. "My life changed 180 degrees," says Monte laughing. "It was like a dream. So magic." In 2004, catch Montes on tour with Jones's company. A liquid, effortless, stunning mover, he shines on stage. www.billtjones.org Kate Mattingly teaches dance history at the New York City Public School for Dance and freelances for performing arts publications. BRADON MCDONALD Mark Morris Standout BY AMANDA SMITH Even in the distinguished ensemble that is the Mark Morris Dance Croup croup (kr  p), acute obstructive laryngitis in young children, usually between the ages of three and six. , Bradon McDonald is eyecatching. He was a standout last spring at BAM Bam (bäm), town (1996 pop. 70,100), Kerman prov., SE Iran, on the intermittent Bam River. Located on the western edge of the Dasht-e Lut, Bam is a trade center in a henna-growing region. Dates and other fruits are also grown; camels are raised. when he replaced an injured colleague in Resurrection. McDonald earned his BFA in 1997 from Juilliard, received the Princess Grace Award, danced with the Limon company for three years, and along the way has choreographed seven Juilliard opera productions. He apprenticed with Morris briefly, then joined MMDG MMDG Mark Morris Dance GroupMMDG Market Management and Development Guide (State Farm Insurance) MMDG Mecoscale and Microscale Dynamics Group in December of 2000. A beautiful and lyrical mover with a mirthful mirth·ful adj. 1. Full of gladness and gaiety. 2. Characterized by or expressing gladness and gaiety: a warm, tender, and mirthful movie. , pixie-like face, McDonald lilts through Morris's movement and dances in most of the repertory, including Morris's recent masterpiece V. He's featured in Morris's new All Fours. A dancer who embodies some of Morris's complex and often comic spirit, McDonald has recently taken on one of Morris's own roles (a rarity), that of the Cupid figure in A Spell. www.mmdg.org Amanda Smith has been writing for DANCE MAGAZINE for nearly thirty years. PAULETTE BEAUCHAMP Reinterpreting Tradition BY NATALIA DE CUBA ROMERO Before Paulette Beauchamp could aspire to mainstream audiences, she had her own island to convert. The former ballet dancer returned to her native Puerto Rico in 1989 with a dance degree from SUNY SUNY - State University of New York Purchase, two years of modern dance performing, and Limon's Sarah Stackhouse as mentor. Audiences expected ballet, not Beauchamp's contemporary choreography set to traditional island music. She struggled to fill 150 seats. But Beauchamp continued reinterpreting dances like African-influenced bomba, cultivating audiences and students through her company, Danzactiva, aided by her husband, musician-composer Carlos Bedoya. Emboldened em·bold·en tr.v. em·bold·ened, em·bold·en·ing, em·bold·ens To foster boldness or courage in; encourage. See Synonyms at encourage. Adj. 1. by local success, she look a new work to New York's Teatro La Tea in November 2002, where it won awards in line Latin press. Re-Encuentro de pies, faldas y tambores (Re-Encounter of feet, skirts and drums), intertwines Puerto Rican dance, flamenco, and kathak in a swirling, stomping, and thumping kaleidoscope of color and live percussion. Back home, Beauchamp, 37, and Danzactiva now perform to SRO See Self-regulatory organization. SRO See self-regulatory organization (SRO). audiences in 800-seat halls. Beauchamp's next challenge is to convert Latin acclaim into a mainstream name. Danzactiva and Re-Encuentro return to Teatro La Tea in October, 2004. www.danzactiva.com Natalia de Cuba Romero is a freelance travel and arts writer based in New York and Puerto Rico. TRAIN WRECK Party of a Performance BY GEORGE JACKSON Train Wreck is a company of twelve exciting dancers as unalike stylistically as the shapes of the pasta in alphabet soup. Its directors, Michael Corrigan and Hilary Wright, had studied ballet for exercise, became hooked, and then performed professionally (Wright for Bejart in Brussels and companies across America; Corrigan with Virginia's Arlington Dance Theater). Later, as Washington businessmen, they joined the dance audience. Dissatisfied as spectators, they launched TW in 2001. To perform with TW, dancers--from Russian ballet, Native American tribes, English musicals, Asian traditions, etc.--must "catch and hold the eye." Repertoire includes pieces by ballet and modern choreographers, but it is in works by the founders that the essential TW emerges. These are parties more than performances! As Kim Reynolds's rock band ignites fireworks, the dancers all do their own thing and learn from each other within a set structure. Choosing a final partner sweeps the party to a climax. March 26 & 27, TW performs with Manassas Dance Company in Virginia. www.trainwreckdancecompany.org George Jackson is a dance writer based in Washington, D.C. He began writing for DANCE MAGAZINE in the early 1960s. VINCENT MANTSOE Fierce Fusion BY RACHEL STRAUS In the mid-1980s, teenaged Vincent Mantsoe whose mother is a tribal Sangoma sangoma Noun S African a witch doctor [Nguni (language group of southern Africa) isangoma a diviner] Noun 1. sangoma - a traditional Zulu healer and respected elder (shaman), began drawing crowds in Johannesburg for his Michael Jackson-inspired street dancing. When, in 1990, Mantsoe responded to a newspaper ad for a dance scholarship to study with Sylvia Glasser and her Moving Into Dance company, he began to work in a style that blends world dance forms--African, ballet, Balinese--to express social equality. At 32, Mantsoe is an artist of fierce uniqueness. His dancing isn't trendy, nor is it the pinnacle of technical perfection. He combines entertainment, history, and spirituality with an earth-shaking expressiveness that audiences find irresistible. Mantsoe made his U.S. debut in 1997 with choreography for Dance Theatre of Harlem Dance Theatre of Harlem, the first black classical ballet company. The group was founded in Harlem, New York City, by Arthur Mitchell, then of the New York City Ballet, the first black principal dancer of a classical company of international standing. . In 2003, he performed his astonishing a·ston·ish tr.v. as·ton·ished, as·ton·ish·ing, as·ton·ish·es To fill with sudden wonder or amazement. See Synonyms at surprise. solo work at Jacob's Pillow. In Motswa Hole (2001), a piece that is both a purification rite and a flirty, soft-shoe dance, he dared audience members into a water fight where his explosively fast and serenely curving body moved water through space like rainbows. www.sekwaman.co.za Rachel Straus is a freelance writer based in New York City. LARRY KEIGWIN Concise Kinetics BY GUS SOLOMONS JR Quick, can you name a choreographer who makes witty, insightful, and--this is important--concise dances? I can: Lawrence Keigwin. After working for several years with Mark Dendy as dancer and assistant, last season Keigwin, 31, showed his first full evening of work: five incisively theatrical pieces, exuberantly performed. The kinetic delight of his high-powered dancing is infectious, and he doesn't shy away from Verb 1. shy away from - avoid having to deal with some unpleasant task; "I shy away from this task" avoid - stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something; "Her former friends now avoid her" the "e" word: entertainment. "I try to make what it is I'd like to see," he says. This season, he's been commissioned by NYU/Tisch Dance to create a new dance; with a space grant from Joyce SoHo he'll be making new work for his own troupe; and on April 29 and 30, he'll present some of it at the new Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater at Symphony Space in New York. www.joyce.org/soho.html Gus Solomons jr is artistic director of PARADIGM and teaches at NYU/Tisch School of the Arts School of the Arts is the name of several schools (usually high schools) that are devoted to the fine arts, including:
CHRISTOPHER STOWELL Bold New Role BY MARTHA ULLMAN WEST For nearly twenty years we have watched Christopher Stowell dance with intelligence and bold attack in works by choreographers as diverse as George Balanchine, Mark Morris, and William Forsythe. Now, in his role as artistic director of Oregon Ballet Theatre Oregon Ballet Theatre is the premiere ballet company for the state of Oregon. The company is the result of the 1992 merging of Ballet Oregon and Pacific Ballet Theater. James Canfield, formerly a dancer with Joffrey Ballet as well as a principal dancer for Pacific Ballet Theater, , his focus, he said in August, 2003, "is different from performing [on stage] where you're self-involved. This is about other people, not me." Nevertheless, Stowell is applying to this new role the same intelligence and bold attack he brought to his dancing. In the context of the worst economy in recent memory, he insists on live music at every performance; he discarded OBT's existing repertoire, replacing its Nutcracker with Balanchine's; and next month, will premiere a spanking new Firebird choreographed by Yuri Possokhov. "I'm performing at every meal," Stowell said cheerfully, between appearances at board meetings, lunches, and parties to welcome him to Portland. So far so good: Subscription sales are up 36 percent over the previous year. www.obt.org Martha Ullman West, a past co-chair of the Dance Critics Association, has been Oregon correspondent for DANCE MAGAZINE for twenty-three years. She also writes for Ballet Review, Dance Chronicle, the Chronicle of Higher Education Review, the Eugene Weekly, and the Oregonian. |
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