BWW Reviews: Getting Schooled: Columbia/Barnard Dance Department Spring Concert

The young dancers of Columbia University and Barnard College fell back and forth in dance repertory and dared to add their own voices to iconic works at the matinee performance at Miller Theatre, Saturday, April 26th, 2014. Each of the four works provided unique challenges: Andrea Miller's Fall Recover Recover tested their capacity for the essence of modern dance technique, Twyla Tharp's Treefrog in Stonehenge demanded the stamina of a jazzercise class, Martha Graham's Lamentation Variations asked students to reflect upon Graham's legacy with their own minds and bodies, and Robert La Fosse's Concerto for Mr. B thrust the dancers on to their toes.

In silence, the dancers rushed and tumbled on stage. Their long flowing jewel-toned robes added sound to the music-less opening, swishing and whirling. The music crashed upon the piece; suddenly the dance came alive. The dancers utilized their robes as sleds as they ran into a belly dive and slid across the stage. The backlighting amplified the motion; shifting robes and rolling heads appeared in the shadows. Dancers continually fell down to their knees and on to their backs just like the doll on a string from childhood. One dancer fell so many times in a row it was beyond counting. The falling seemed powerful and a display of prowess. Often the falls came out of or led into frenzied runs. In one section, though, the fall became a source of empathy. Two dancers continually began their descent to the floor but were stopped by other dancers rushing to their aid. In between the constant falling and recovering, the dancers paused in tableau for a peaceful reverie. Somehow cartwheels led into stunning arabesque lifts. Miller's movement echoed in the students' Lamentation Variations later in the program, which Ms. Miller took in from the rear of the theater.

Twyla Tharp's Treefrog in Stonehenge, commissioned specifically for ADF students in 2013, threw every possible movement style into the mix. In black t-shirts and shorts, dancers operated from a cypher structure encircling each other and therefore obscuring some of the dance. The sound score was a mix of everything, with a cakewalk effect on the dance as it started and stopped and changed tempos constantly. There was contra dancing, moonwalking, chaine turns, fouettes...the piece felt a like a fun senior dance. It was chaotic and quirky with some very pedestrian movement, club dancing, and just a little technique required.

Janet Eilber, Martha Graham Dance Company's Artistic Director, was in the audience as well. Before the live performances, a video of Martha Graham performing Lamentation introduced the work to come. Three students gamely performed their own interpretations and responses to the seminal work. Saradiane Mosko's The Time That Takes Us was subdued and subtle, but ended with prolonged, contracted fall in ode to Graham's technique. Leah Friedlander's Both Dark and Deep moved freely and softly across the stage. She ended in a sleeping position, the lyrics of the music wishing her to sleep - resting in peace but while living. Lu Shirley Dai's Pilgrimage investigated the mechanics of Graham's tube dress, this time in bright red. Dai traveled and transformed with the fabric, finally choosing freedom from it.

La Fosse's Concerto for Mr. B showed the depth of the dancers' training and abilities. A beautiful ballet performed with ease and grace. Their blue skirts gently rippled as the corps de ballet transitioned from formation to formation in support of Madison McCarthy, Taylor Minich and Shoshanna Rosenfield's variations. From the dynamic of their earlier works, seeing these dancers en pointe delightfully surprised! A strongly curated program for the audience and for the dancers.

Andrea Miller's Fall Recover Recover by Julieta Cervantes

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