Dancemetros

After a run-through of Jeanne Ruddy’s new work a otherwise luminous Janet Pilla, bends over like a sprinter and says “hard Mondays.” In this case hard rainy Monday with the troupe in sweaty togs and under the company’s fluorescent house lights in the Bauhaus-y Performance Garage. Jeanne, parting the clouds herself in circa1968 mod Brit cap (Brian Jones collection), black suede boots and floral scarf, gave her dancers notes as she worked out choreographic details.

The choreographer shows many different colors, but none as ominous as her previous program ‘Breathless‘ about spousal abuse and murder. ‘Breathless’ is an artistic testament, showing Ruddy’s breadth with narrative. She went into the studio contemplating what a dark time it was for everybody and she didn’t want to create something depressing. Sh conceived ‘Lark’ a work set to music by techno-Haydn in four fab movements.

metroscape

Out of the cave (after being a bookworm all morning) for Ballet X’s Spring program at the Wilma, where Christine Cox’s son Warren was working the lobby. Last spring he was dancing onstage, in vitro at 8 months, and today he was Christine’s muse for her nursery ballet ‘The Striped Hat.’

Riding home on the bike the line of trees along Pine and Lombard are starting to fill in and for one botanical fashion week, branches bloom in whites, pinks and greens. The winds have been aswirl all week, and were so strong the rustle was not to be ignored as I was listing on my bike. The glacial shelf is breaking up, the bats in Vermount are dying and the winds are stronger in Philly. But on this day, everybody was out blowing around seemingly without a care in the world.