Pascal Rioult Dance Theatre.PASCAL RIOULT DANCE THEATRE JOYCE THEATER NEW YORK, NEW YORK MAY 4-9, 2004 Pascal Rioult has developed a signature style of choreography that, although based on archetypal modern dance, is unique without being terribly quirky. Martha Graham's influence colors his use of stillness to create emotional tension, his great sense of style, and his devotion to theater. Rioult designed the set and costumes for the Bach-driven Fugue fugue (fy  g) [Ital.,=flight], in music, a form of composition in which the basic principle is imitative counterpoint of several voices. for Men, a premiere. Strips of white fabric hung downstage down·stage adv. Toward, at, or on the front part of a stage. adj. Of or relating to the front part of a stage. n. The front half of a stage. Noun 1. , obstructing or revealing the four men as they cartwheeled, plied, or extended their legs in Rioult's favorite developpe dé·vel·op·pé n. A ballet movement in which one leg is raised to the knee of the supporting leg and fully extended. [French, from past participle of développer, to develop; see develop.] . When the dancers crossed the stage, their episodic disappearance evoked the stop-action photography of Muybridge or a frieze on a Greek urn. Movement frozen in frames--that's a neat summary of Rioult's overall style, which tends to emphasize poses far more than the connecting phrases. Another premiere was Rioult's new staging of Stravinksy's Firebird. With disarming confidence, 9-year-old Hannah Burnette played the title role, wielding magical peacock feathers to restore love and optimism to the world-weary group of eight who trudged around with chests sunken, arms hanging sullenly, feet sickled. When Burnette excited her powers by shaking the feathers, the others opened up like dormant flowers finally soaking up sunshine. Harry Feiner designed the constructivist con·struc·tiv·ism n. A movement in modern art originating in Moscow in 1920 and characterized by the use of industrial materials such as glass, sheet metal, and plastic to create nonrepresentational, often geometric objects. set of striated striated /stri·at·ed/ (stri´at-ed) having stripes or striae. striate, striated having streaks or striae, e.g. striate retinopathy. striate border see brush border. mountain shapes dominated by an ominous, inverted, black wedge that hovered over the performers, portending strife--but the bird's hopeful magic prevailed. The sleek costumes by Pilaf Limosner--skullcaps and one-armed unitards with leather yokes--added a futuristic feel. Black Diamond (2003), all velvety shades of ebony, featured Lorena B. Egan and Penelope Gonzalez atop two platforms, stridently hitting poses, their intensity broken only by subtle torso circles. One slithered off her box, breaking free to counter Stravinsky's pizzicato pizzicato (pĭt'səkä`tō), in music, the technique of plucking the strings of an instrument that is usually bowed. Directions for playing pizzicato are found in early 17th-century music. construction with bold arabesque arabesque (ărəbĕsk`) [Fr.,=Arabian], in art, term applied to any complex, linear decoration based on flowing lines. In Islamic art it was often exploited to cover entire surfaces. turns. At the end, light seemed to emanate from their feet. The second repertory work, Bolero (2002), reinforced the inexorable mechanical drive of Ravel's score. In silver unitards, the dancers pumped their arms forward and back like pistons, held them parallel to frame their faces, then took turns in solo. Rioult's choreography contains little fluent phrasing, but despite its stoicism Stoicism (stō`ĭsĭzəm), school of philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium (in Cyprus) c.300 B.C. The first Stoics were so called because they met in the Stoa Poecile [Gr. , it is visceral and in its own way, virtuosic. FOR MORE INFORMATION www.prdance.org |
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