{"id":4542,"date":"2015-03-31T16:34:01","date_gmt":"2015-03-31T20:34:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/?p=4542"},"modified":"2015-04-06T16:56:53","modified_gmt":"2015-04-06T20:56:53","slug":"there-and-here-take-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/there-and-here-take-dance.htm","title":{"rendered":"There and Here – Take Dance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"_MG_0702_7\"<\/a>Take Dance
\nBrynt Beitman, Jill Echo, John Eirich, Kile Hotchkiss, Gina Ianni, Takehiro Ueyama, Marie Zvosec with Guest Artists Orion Duckstein, Nana Tsuda, Miki Orihara and Amy Young
\nThere and Here<\/em>
\nSchimmel Center at Pace University
\nMarch 27, 2015
\nPhotos by Phyllis McCabe
\n.
\n\u201cLife\u2019s beauty becomes the memory chiseled into the body.\u00a0 As living organisms connected to the ever-evolving universe, we are integrated as a part of the natural environment.\u00a0 We are but stones, whose movements cause the ripple in the water.\u201d
\n.<\/em>
\nThe above is an excerpt from the program note from the show\u2019s playbill.\u00a0 The note is so thoughtful and so beautifully written that it gave me plenty to consider before the house lights even went down.\u00a0 Take Dance marks their 10th Anniversary by presenting\u00a0 There and Here, which explores the process of life and the nature of the afterlife through a series of physical stories, many of which seem abstract while still woven together by an elusive narrative.\u00a0 We wonder if we\u2019re seeing many aspects of one human\u2019s transition.\u00a0 Or are we seeing their memories and experiences merge with the earth?<\/p>\n

The sets and the lighting are so striking while being so elemental.\u00a0 They created an atmosphere that felt sacred.\u00a0 The stage is covered with sand.\u00a0 There is a small hill tucked in a remote corner, and a few large stones are scattered around the periphery.\u00a0 Composer and musician Kato Hidecki is stationed at a drum kit and the equivalent of a small electronic sound studio behind a scrim .\u00a0 He provides an earthy, primal live accompaniment to the dance, a canvas of percussion and electronic sounds that conjure the spirit of the natural world.\u00a0 There are heartbeats, bird songs, ocean sounds, sounds of the wind, buzzing which reminds me of insects.<\/p>\n

The dance opens with the sound of something rumbling deep in the distance.\u00a0 The stage is dark as a single dancer, dressed in crimson against the sand colored set, lies on her back.\u00a0 She moves so slowly, in such tiny increments, like evolution itself.\u00a0 She gradually lifts her head and shoulders.\u00a0 Her limbs rise in an unaccustomed fashion, till she\u2019s left on her back with her legs reaching toward the sky, looking almost like the limbs of a tree.\u00a0 This pose is recalled to beautiful effect throughout the evening.<\/p>\n

In the opening, and in several other passages throughout the dance, there are no hard edges and very few angles to the forms of the choreography and the movement of the dancers.\u00a0 Muscles, torsos and limbs appear slack.\u00a0 Even in difficult balances, grande rondes\u00a0 and strong contractions, the body never seems rigid or controlled.\u00a0 The movement and shapes of the work seem to take their cues from the diversity of the natural world rather than from the brain and a set of techniques.\u00a0 I found this to be very affecting and it set a lovely tone to the piece.
\n\"_MG_1138_7\"<\/a>At times, sand rains down from above.\u00a0 Sand also slips through the hands of the dancers.\u00a0 It covers them as they roll on the stage, then it catches the light as it scatters to create gorgeous imagery.\u00a0 This piece also seems to emphasize the community that exists among people and nature.\u00a0 As one dancer moves along a line made of the stones, each dancer she passes extends a hand to help her balance.\u00a0 At times the dancers hold hands and seem to move as one being in a chain reaction.<\/p>\n

There are the muscular, athletic and daring passages too, with the fast paced and expansive partnering sequences that bear Take\u2019s trademark.\u00a0 At one point, the women fly across the stage and hurtle themselves into the arms of their partners, which reminds me of the famous sequence in Paul Taylor\u2019s Esplanade.\u00a0 This is a company of multi-faceted dancers who seem unafraid to take risks.\u00a0 In recent years I\u2019ve seen them put through their paces in dances that range from the celebratory, to the heartbreaking, to the comical, to the lovely, to the abstract and beyond.\u00a0 Still, every passage of the choreography of There and Here has its own unique voice, and it seems to reveal a new aspect of the dancers as individuals and of the company as a whole.<\/p>\n

The closing moments of this piece are especially moving, as the dancers slowly travel in a circle around the periphery of the stage, each one either carrying a stone or letting the sand slip through their fingers.\u00a0 There is little uniformity to the movement, yet it works so beautifully as a cohesive whole.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Take Dance Brynt Beitman, Jill Echo, John Eirich, Kile Hotchkiss, Gina Ianni, Takehiro Ueyama, Marie Zvosec with Guest Artists Orion Duckstein, Nana Tsuda, Miki Orihara and Amy Young There and Here Schimmel Center at Pace University March 27, 2015 Photos … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,20],"tags":[568,639,637,638,569,640,389,391],"class_list":["post-4542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dance","category-karen","tag-brynt-beitman","tag-gina-ianni","tag-jill-echo","tag-john-eirich","tag-kile-hotchkiss","tag-marie-zvosec","tag-take-dance","tag-takehiro-ueyama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4542","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=4542"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4550,"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4542\/revisions\/4550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}