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<\/a><\/p>\nNew York City Ballet principal dancer Wendy Whelan, will be appearing at Jacob\u2019s Pillow this summer to present Restless Creature, an evening of new works created for her by four different choreographers.\u00a0 At a Works & Process event at the Guggenheim, the audience was given the opportunity to hear Ms. Whelan and the four choreographers interviewed about the project.\u00a0 They also presented excerpts of two of the dances.\u00a0 Ella Baff, the Executive Director of Jacob\u2019s Pillow, moderated.<\/p>\n
Ms. Whelan sounded exuberant throughout the 90 minute presentation.\u00a0 The works that she\u2019ll be performing at Jacob\u2019s Pillow appear to be off the beaten path of classical and neo-classical ballet.\u00a0 Throughout the interview, Ms. Whelan spoke of the challenges as well as the liberation of moving into unchartered territory with these four artists.<\/p>\n
The Works & Process event opened with a beautiful solo danced by Ms. Whelan and choreographed by Shen Wei.\u00a0 After dancing, she talked about seeing a performance of Wei\u2019s work eight years earlier, and then having the opportunity to work with him when Peter Boal brought the two of them together.\u00a0 Ms. Whelan described Wei as being very clear in knowing what he wanted — she said that she loves to see that in an artist.\u00a0 The challenge of stepping out of the ballet world to work with him was huge, but she couldn\u2019t get enough.\u00a0 Among the instruction that he gave her in performing his piece was the request \u201cnot to blink\u201d.<\/p>\n
There are long rests in the music accompanying the Wei piece.\u00a0 She described the solo as being a dialogue — the pianist \u201cconversing\u201d with the dancer.\u00a0 The dance is performed en pointe, something that Wei had to adjust to.\u00a0 This drew both dancer and choreographer out of their comfort zones.\u00a0 Wei kept asking her to do pointe work that couldn\u2019t be done, but Ms. Whelan wished that it could be, so both artists focused on moving away from what was familiar.\u00a0 They worked together toward the end of creating original movement.<\/p>\n
In choosing the choreographers for Restless Creature, she looked outside the neo-classical world of New York City Ballet.\u00a0 Kyle Abraham was the first choreographer with whom she chose to work.\u00a0 She met Brian Brooks at the Fire Island Dance Festival.\u00a0 She met Joshua Beamish in a ballet class.\u00a0\u00a0 She chose Alejandro Cerrudo of Hubbard Street, as she\u2019s a great fan of the company.<\/p>\n
It was interesting to hear the enthusiasm with which she discussed the dancer-choreographer connection in the studio.\u00a0 She said that there are times when she enjoys this work even more than she enjoys the performance on stage.\u00a0 This is the part of the process that the audience never sees, so Ms. Whelan seemed especially happy that for Restless Creature, this connection that she experiences in the studio will move out on to the stage, as each choreographer will partner her in his piece.<\/p>\n She said that she is very comfortable in her role as dancer and isn\u2019t interested in being the choreographer.\u00a0 She likes to be \u201cthe paintbrush\u201d and \u201cmix the paints\u201d, but she doesn\u2019t want to be the one who decides where to put the marks on the canvas.<\/p>\n Ms. Whelan and Joshua Beamish performed an excerpt from his piece.\u00a0 It\u2019s markedly contemporary and very lovely, danced to a dramatic accompaniment which swells and gives way to quieter passages.\u00a0 There is surprising original movement in the upper body and some interesting counterpoint.\u00a0 I especially liked the small gestures of the hands and feet.<\/p>\n Choreographer Brian Brooks worked with Elizabeth Streb and is accustomed to extremes of movement.\u00a0 He said that his choreography embraces physics and momentum rather than fighting against it, as most ballet choreography does.\u00a0 He considers himself to be earthbound, whereas ballet tends to reach for the heavens.\u00a0 He felt that in his collaboration with Mr. Whelan, she begins to bring him skybound, while he draws her back down to earth.\u00a0 Ms. Whelan seemed very enthusiastic about performing his dance without shoes.\u00a0 Later in the program she exclaimed, \u201cI can feel the floor!\u00a0 Taking the shoes off is like taking the bra off!\u201d\u00a0 She seemed to find artistic liberation in bare feet.<\/p>\n Kyle Abraham got his start in rave and hip hop culture.\u00a0 He names Limon, Cunningham and Graham among his influences.\u00a0 He asked Ms. Whelan if his work was challenging for her.\u00a0 She laughed and told him that he could ease up on challenge part.\u00a0 Of all the collaborations, this one seemed the most interesting to me, and I hope that I get the opportunity to see the dance.<\/p>\n Alejandro Cerrudo said that he made a deliberate decision to steer away from specific influences like Ohad Naharin and Jiri Kylian, calling instead upon the accumulation of all of his experience.\u00a0 He admitted that before he met Ms. Whelan, he feared that she might be a diva, but he said that she made it easy for him to relax and focus on the work.\u00a0 Much of his dance is the result of the give and take between dancer and choreographer, unfolding minute by minute in the studio.<\/p>\n Of partnering, Ms. Whelan said that it\u2019s different for each couple.\u00a0 A chemistry arises between the two, as a natural thing.\u00a0 Even in an abstract dance, over the years a story will evolve within it.\u00a0 It grows as a physical conversation.<\/p>\n The program closed with an excerpt from Brian Brooks\u2019 work.\u00a0 Brooks is dressed in black against a black curtain, and at many points he seems to disappear into the darkness of the stage, even though he\u2019s supporting Ms. Whelan\u2019s weight so that she can appear to be defying gravity.\u00a0 The movement of the dance kept rolling and it seemed never to stop.\u00a0 I was taken by the originality and the quirky and clever voice of the work.\u00a0 Much in the way Brooks had described their process, the dance seemed at once to be ethereal and other worldly, yet earthy.<\/p>\n The full world premiere of Wendy Whelan\u2019s Restless Creature will take place in the Ted Shawn Theatre at Jacob\u2019s Pillow Dance Festival, August 14-18, 2013. Tickets for the Pillow world premiere are on sale online at jacobspillow.org or at 413.243.0745.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Wendy Whelan \/ Restless Creature Works & Process at the Guggenheim April 14, 2013 All photos by Nisian Hughes New York City Ballet principal dancer Wendy Whelan, will be appearing at Jacob\u2019s Pillow this summer to present Restless Creature, an … Continue reading <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n