BWW Reviews: Gone Dancin' with New York City Center's Fall For Dance

Tuesday, October 14th, marked the midway point of New York City Center's Fall for Dance and represented companies from three continents: South Africa's Vuyani Dance Theatre in a spiritual meditation, Sara Mearns and Company in full Broadway fanfare, Trisha Brown Dance Company's reconstruction of Son of Gone Fishin', and, National Ballet of China in a 16th century tale.

Vuyani Dance Theatre's Umnikelo opened with eight dancers in flowing white tunics. As the bodies slowly awakened, it was impossible to discern male and female. A shaking hand from one dancer, others bent forward, arms found supplicatory positions. A scrim concealed and revealed the musicians and singers in accompaniment. The program notes described exploring the concept of an offering and willful submission. The soft lighting and vocal chanting immediately delineated a spiritual capacity. The movement built, the dancers bounced and stomped in fervor. Their movement included traditional Africanist aesthetics, martial arts, and acrobatics. Their execution, however, was surprisingly loose, gentle despite the leaping and kicking. Perhaps in declaration of submission being a deliberate act of strength rather than weak defeat?

Sara Mearns and Company leapt from spirituality to sentimentality in Stairway to Paradise, choreographed by Joshua Bergasse. Eight men played partner to a prancing Mearns (another New York City Ballet dancer with the Broadway bug). Upbeat but tentative in execution at times, Mearns ran, leapt, and somersaulted over and around her fawning male cohort. Jazzy and fun, but a bit predictable, Mearns ascended and descended a "stairway" of hands and shoulders. Her magnetic presence certainly lit up the crowd in spite of the repetitiveness of the movement.

The audience favorite of the evening, Trisha Brown Dance Company captivated in what she described as a "choreographic doozy" per the program notes in Son of Gone Fishin'. In shimmering beige and green, the dancers moved with ease in Brown's dense "cross-section tree trunk structure". They moved to and away from each other; an arm slashed the air with the body in close pursuit. Limbs dangled and dropped from the torso. Battements and grand jetes punctuated the swaying bodies. A rigorous task, the dancers triumphed in the work. Robert Ashley's music challenged the ear but the lolling heads and easy jumps mesmerized the eye. They ended in a wave formation, arms curved forward - catching the viewer off guard in its end.

National Ballet of China closed the evening with The Peony Pavilion, adapted from a full length ballet for its U.S. premiere. The condensing of the work required additional program notes to enlighten the viewer of the chopped up narrative (somewhat a combination of Sleeping Beauty and Giselle). The dancers were stunning in their technique and commitment to their roles. However, the storyline really suffered in this instance. Thirty dancers took the stage at various times in lavish costumes with dramatic props (large gold wall, flower petals fell from above). The main pas de deux with Zhu Yan and Ma Xiaodong was breathtaking; she was ethereal, he was gallant. The full effect was rather jumbled despite a strong performance from beautiful dancers. That's the mixed bag of Fall for Dance - exposure to diverse companies and dance - a layered experience.

Trisha Brown Dance Company in Son of Gone Fishin' by Stephanie Berger

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