{"id":3415,"date":"2012-01-17T14:04:30","date_gmt":"2012-01-17T19:04:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/?p=3415"},"modified":"2012-01-25T15:31:31","modified_gmt":"2012-01-25T20:31:31","slug":"apap-showcases-at-peridance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/apap-showcases-at-peridance.htm","title":{"rendered":"APAP Showcases at Peridance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Michele<\/a><\/p>\n

APAP Showcases at Peridance – Program A
\nJanuary 8, 2012<\/p>\n

The APAP Showcases at Peridance were nothing short of a beautiful dream which introduced me to several companies whom I\u2019m looking forward to following in the future.<\/p>\n

Program A opened with In Dividing<\/em>, a moody modern piece with earthy sepia tones, presented by the Mettin Movement Collective.\u00a0 Throughout a series of vignettes, one individual stands apart from the rest of the dancers, who seem to comprise a tribe.\u00a0 I was surprised to read that choreographer Sarah Mettin is a 2011 graduate of the Conservatory at Purchase.\u00a0 Her artistic voice and the dancers who make up her company seemed quite mature. I especially liked the beautiful formations and counterpoint of the choreography, and the wonderful assortment of dancers who make up the company.\u00a0 This is one to watch.<\/p>\n

Kate Thomas\u2019s Ballet Neo presented The Appalachian Suites Project<\/em>, a lovely lyrical contemporary pointe piece which opens with four women dressed in black.\u00a0 Their movement is expansive, with long extensions and arms that reach.\u00a0 There was the temptation for me to read things literally and to wonder if these women were mining wives or even widows.\u00a0 Their movement at times is reserved and the lighting is moody, yet their faces are not pained and their spirits seem very sisterly.\u00a0 As the dance progresses, two men join the group for a stirring series of partnering sections.\u00a0 Just beautiful.\u00a0 Ballet Neo also presented a gorgeous pointe piece called\u00a0 Measurement and Caution<\/em>, danced by RJ Johnston and Bethany Lange.\u00a0 The dance was elegant and full of effusive movement.\u00a0 There was such strong chemistry between the partners.<\/p>\n

Things became light hearted as Nathan Trice Rituals presented Chim Chim Cheree<\/em>, accompanied live by a jazz trio and danced by four couples.\u00a0 In this theatrical piece, the women sang skat as they danced.\u00a0 The dance was a great and organic blend of Broadway and Trice\u2019s signature, often quirky modern style.\u00a0 So entertaining and very appealing.<\/p>\n

Jacoby & Pronk presented two solos.\u00a0 Prince Credell danced an Alonzo King piece titled Door<\/em>, to ancient shofar sounds and Hebrew chants.\u00a0 I loved the primal feel conjured by the raw honesty and muscularity of the movement, the ancient music and the earthy costume.\u00a0 Drew Jacoby delivered an electrifying performance of Emery LeCrone\u2019s contemporary ballet Aria<\/em>.\u00a0 Jacoby has such an enormous presence on the floor and always manages to seamlessly blend fierce feminine strength with deep emotion and ballerina grace.<\/p>\n

I was especially moved by Tomoko Imanaka\u2019s Okuni<\/em> performed by Tomoko Dance Art Company, a piece that seems steeped in traditional Japanese forms.\u00a0 The women make their entrance dressed in the black and white outfits and straw hats that we\u2019ve seen in artwork of Japanese rice paddy farmers.\u00a0 Much of the dance travels in a circle.\u00a0 Much of it is performed in unison with a ritualistic feel.\u00a0 A woman in a gorgeous colorful silk kimono joins them.\u00a0 I think that she is Okuni, a temple dancer who founded Kabuki art forms.\u00a0 As the dancers shed their hats and white vests, they remain dressed in black as they perform a magnificent dance with the very colorful and glamourous\u00a0 Okuni at the center, mixing modern forms with traditional Japanese images.<\/p>\n

\"El<\/a>Peridance Contemporary Dance Company performed an excerpt from Igal Perry\u2019s El Amor Brujo<\/em>, an elegant and dramatic piece which seems to explore the unseen forces that play with romance.\u00a0 At one point, a man and woman sit opposite each other and tentatively rise and move toward one another.\u00a0 They hesitate at first and never quite make it.\u00a0 When the four women and four men of the piece do dance together, they continually change partners.\u00a0 A pas de deux becomes a pas de trois.\u00a0 At one point one partner seems drawn away by a magnet or blown away by the wind.\u00a0 I really liked Perry\u2019s unique take on this theme and I\u2019m looking forward to seeing the full length piece later this month.<\/p>\n

\"Whim<\/a>Olivier Wevers\u2019 Flower Festival<\/em> was performed by Seattle based Whim W\u2019Him, a company who is completely new to me and who absolutely knocked me out with an amazing comic performance.\u00a0 Two men in business suits sit at opposite corners of the floor, having removed their black dress shoes.\u00a0 One at a time the men approach each other.\u00a0 They are teasing and challenging as they gradually strip away their clothing, one article at a time.\u00a0 The dance also contained a few partnering sections that were great parodies, in which standard ballet passages were blown up to the point of camp, or one partner wound up dragging the other around by his collar.\u00a0 There was even a brief game of salugi.\u00a0 Amazing performances were given by Andrew Bartee and Lucien Postlewaite.\u00a0 Great costumes by Mark Zappone.\u00a0 I hope to see this company in New York City again.<\/p>\n

Charlotta Ofverhom ponders matters of food, both literally and metaphorically in Pas de Deux Sans Toi<\/em>, a piece that could be both somber and comic, most of which she danced with a heart of lettuce in her mouth.\u00a0 When her partner joins her, he seems to devour her, and when he leaves her she consults the audience about her fears and matters of the heart.\u00a0 She did a good job of dramatizing how vulnerable we can feel within relationships, and how sometimes there is nothing left to do but to laugh about the folly of it all.<\/p>\n

Noesis-Kinetics presented a quartet titled Recognition.docx<\/em>, choreographed by Calen Kurka.\u00a0 Really good dancing, compelling choreography and sharp movement with a mechanical industrial vibe performed to a noisy accompaniment.<\/p>\n

Lydia Johnson Dance\u2019s beautiful untitled excerpt had a Greek classical feel with influences from Graham and Sokolow.\u00a0 The women wear floor length skirts and they dance in a line.\u00a0 They seem like sisters or women within a close knit community.\u00a0 They tend to one another, supporting and soothing one another.\u00a0 The dancing at times travels along the perimeter of a wide circle.\u00a0 There was also a wonderful series of trios.\u00a0 The choral music gives the piece an ancient atmosphere and so much of the movement reminds me of images from classical Greek artworks.\u00a0 I especially liked this piece and I look forward to seeing its full length version.<\/p>\n

Ballet Next delivered a dazzling performance of Balanchine\u2019s Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux<\/em> to accompaniment by a live chamber orchestra.\u00a0 Confident and fearless, happy and carefree, Michele Wiles absolutely sparkled and looked as if she was having so much fun.\u00a0 I can\u2019t recall the last time I saw a ballerina looking so light hearted and it really lifted my spirit.\u00a0 Charles Askegard, as usual, made the superb partner.\u00a0 Ballet Next\u2019s second offering was Mauro Bigonzetti\u2019s La Follia<\/em>, danced by Wiles and Drew Jacoby.\u00a0\u00a0 Their presence, their attacks and their movement made a sharp contrast that worked so well.\u00a0 The piece is energetic and sensual, full of interesting hand and arm movement.\u00a0 Just breathtaking.<\/p>\n

Dana Foglia Dance brought the house down with their closing number, Stilhed\/Rock On<\/em>, an exuberant fusion of hip hop and modern dance performed by a youthful and very stylish cast.\u00a0 The dance was so entertaining and won a rousing response from the audience, closing out a great series of performances on a very high note.<\/p>\n

You never know what you\u2019re going to find when you attend APAP Showcases.\u00a0 In the past, I\u2019ve usually found APAP series to contain a few strong dances bolstered by several that just aren\u2019t yet ready for the stage.\u00a0 But this APAP Showcase at Peridance was just out of this world.\u00a0 Both my guest and I were just stunned by the consistently amazing quality and variety of dance that we saw.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

APAP Showcases at Peridance – Program A January 8, 2012 The APAP Showcases at Peridance were nothing short of a beautiful dream which introduced me to several companies whom I\u2019m looking forward to following in the future. Program A opened … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,20],"tags":[360,362,371,368,372,364,370,361,363,369,359,366,365,367],"class_list":["post-3415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dance","category-karen","tag-apap-showcases","tag-ballet-neo","tag-ballet-next","tag-charlotta-ofverholm","tag-dana-foglia-dance","tag-jacoby-pronk","tag-lydia-johnson-dance","tag-mettin-movement-collective","tag-nathan-trice-rituals","tag-noesiskinetics","tag-peridance","tag-peridance-contemporary-dance-company","tag-tomoko-dance-art-company","tag-whim-whim"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3415"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3452,"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3415\/revisions\/3452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}