Poetries

– Andrea Clearfield’s Salon botanicals – 5.24.2016LJW-

 

From The Music Rooms

prelude in transit

          ~wordless darkness that underlies all verbal truth~Perhaps                                    something only music could suggest|Timebends Arthur Miller 
Steel shadows
dragged out of the room
Sutured behind a wing
vanished into sky
Unwritten, unspoken
mourned to infinity
swallowing illusion, escape
through the hands
retold through time
vanquished eye
Secreted away
witness
swallowed day
absent of reason
of any
Remembering
but that
progression of scarred waltz time
conjured from the pages
Of a burned book
prelude in transit
Riveted to the track
pulverized repeatedly
then entering a new night
When it is played again
for the first time

DanceMetros

‘Risky Business’ quintessential Philadanco

Perelman Theater, Philadelphia
Dec.11

Philadanco has had a very tough year financially and for their fall series at the Kimmel Center titled Risky Business by artistic director Joan Myers Brown, might have more than one meaning. Brown was definitely referring to a program packed with risky, athletic moves. The legendary Brown, has piloted the company for 45 years and her school for 55. Winner of every arts accolade along the way, Danco does Philadelphia proud on tour all over the world, but the city doesn’t return that love with financial support.

But, despite these hardships, Danco opened its 45th home season with a theatrically thrilling, choreographically exciting program of five works. Pulse by Daniel Ezralow, has dancers sliding across the stage with precarious velocity, dressing in bluish iridescent dance togs and socks hydro foiling in and out of dramatic pools of light. The deceptively simple work is Ezralow‘s visual representation of spacey electronica music by David Lang, that builds to a sonic matrix as the dancers pulse together in floaty ensemble configurations and just as fast in breakaway solos. Jah’Meek D. Williams is suddenly the center, in mach speed spins and later Victor Lewis, Jr. locks into a plie with a spellbinding hand dance like he was trying to capture atoms.

‘White Dragon’ choreographed by Elisa Monte for six dancers has a modern-primitive feel, with the dancers are costume in colorful skimpy outfits that could be part of a cultural rite, moving in agitated angular patterns. The music, by Glen Branca gets more 80s clubby and the ensemble sections are more fluid in the back half of the piece with ramped up athleticism and double-tempo phrases. A central duet entrances with sculptural and acrobatic intensity, danced with stunning precision by Rosita Adamo and Joe Gonzalez.

Ray Mercer‘s ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’ features a 5 foot standing table that dance on and dive off of, and otherwise use as a relationship cliff. Mercer’s dynamic movement ideas beautifully anchored to couples’ figuring it all out. Like Pulse, this full ensemble piece, shows more refinement every time out and is much more than its dazzling dance effects. Elyse Browning in a scorching solo on top and underneath the table. Roxanne Lyst, always with gorgeous athleticism, is in fearless flight vaulting in breathtaking lateral splits. In one of the sizzling duets, the towering Adrian Moorefield and Janine Beckles have such steeled litheness and intimacy in their partnering.

‘Ghettoscape with Ladder’ is classic by Talley Beatty, set to Natalie Cole’s rendition of Good Morning Heartache. Four men carry in an eight foot ladder and on it is former former Danco and Ailey star Deborah Manning St. Charles (who now teaches at Danco). She reprises her role from 15 years ago, dancing Beatty’s precarious precision with as much theatrical power and balletic grace than ever.

The premiere piece ‘Latched’ by Christopher Huggins, set to Sohn, a pulsing Brit electronica band. Huggins has the dancers in black tops and tights, it is choreographically it is Huggins at his most witty and mysterious. The theme of couples coming together only to be pulled apart, it is a simple physical play on the push-pull of relationships. Huggins’ flowing choreography also technically demanding with low to the ground lift combinations, for instance, that displays Danco’s dazzling athleticism and Huggins’ vivid musicality.

‘Risky Business’ has such artistic depth and technical magic that, in fact, they are more relevant than ever. Brown is about to take embark on a six week European tour with their smash production ‘James Brown: Get on the Good Foot‘ that premiered last year at the Apollo in New York, was given a dicey reception by critics, but played to sold-out houses in New York and L.A. Danco dances on without fail.

Classical Philly

Fab Phils dig in with 40/40 Project Yannick Nezet-Seguin & soloist Jean-Guihen Queyras (Ph: Phil Orch)

Philadelphia Orchestra principal clarinetist Ricardo Morales is sometimes hard to catch sight of in his usually positioned toward the back of the orchestra, but audiences certainly know him from the sterling tones of his playing. Thanksgiving weekend Morales was in front of the orchestra with guest conductor Juanjo Mena, for two stylistically disparate pieces for clarinet and orchestra.

But first, Mena’s opened the concert with Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espanola with its famous Spanish Gyspy song equalized with Mena immediately eliciting a full-orchestral thrust scorching brass on this piece and a gorgeous narrative build of Rimsky-Korsakov‘s Russian classicism.

After a pause, Morales came onstage looking almost embarrassed, but soon enough was detailing, with penetrating clarity, Debussy’s Rhapsody no 1 for clarinet and orchestra. Conductor Mena pacing Debussy’s atmospherics with a subtle and quiet orchestral pulse. Even with one or two hazy overlays, this was an intoxicating performance of a technically tricky piece. Morales then tackled Rossini’s Theme and Variation for Clarinet and orchestra which features Rossini’s his vocal signatures transferred to the clarinet voicing- the vaulting roulades and the line gallops, among other effects- all masterfully dispatched by Morales.

Mena closed the concert with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony no. 4. with its opening heralds stating the themes of passion, intimacy and turmoil immediately. The symphony expressive to the dramatic events in Tchaikovsky’s at the time he was composing it, which included his escaping a false marriage and accepting himself fully as a homosexual. The razor-sharp arrests and haunting fortissimo that gives way to a trailing line on a solo instruments, sharply paced by Mena. Among the standout passages, the full string pizzicato Scherzo, and outstanding solo from oboist Peter Smith and cellist Yumi Kendall.

Both the Rimsky-Korsakov and the Rossini compositions are part of Philadelphia Orchestra’s 40/40 Project , designed by musical director Yannick Nezet-Seguin, of repertoire that have not been performed by the Fab Phils for 40 years and you wonder why they’ve kept these gems on the shelf for so long. Nezet-Seguin has been covering many of the works as well in his concerts and is obviously displaying strengthened aspects of the Philadelphia Orchestra with his stamp on these classics.

Conductor Nezet Seguin was back in Verizon Hall the first week of December for an Austria-German composer program for two performances in Philly and one in between in Carnegie Hall. He will perform the same program in Vienna this winter. Nezet Seguin toys with the concert convention, opening this concert with Brahms’ Symphony No. 3.

Much of the Allegro movement though suffered from erratic pacing and Nezet-Seguin kept the strings too turned down. It started to glow in the back half of the first movement, especially with the clarion French Horn of Jennifer Montone, refocusing the narrative drive. The Andante movement is Brahms is static from the start and Nezet-Seguin doesn’t bring anything other than an academic reading to it. Then Brahms’ famous recapitulation of that towering orchestral wave thunders in, but Nezet-Seguin admirably not leaning on its Brahmsian hook and making the composer’s non-crescendo ending a poetic statement. Along the way, Montone’s interplay with bassoonist Daniel Matsukawa a magical mise-en-scene.

After intermission, French cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras bounded onstage with his 1796 cello and without fuss launched into Haydn‘s Cello Concerto in C Major. Queyras’ fluid approach to this pivotal baroque-classical hybrid by Haydn brings it out from under glass. His tones are sonorous and entrancing, during the cadenza, Queyras vibrantly exploring the implications of Haydn’s musical universe. Even though Queyras was in eye contact with Nezet-Seguin at any given time, he was driving this, meanwhile he had complete synergy with the reduced orchestra, and he was not in his own soloist zone. His passion in performing this was not lost on this audience.

Nezet-Seguin chose the full Suite from Suite from Der Rosenkavalier to close the program. Yannick has a special affinity to Strauss, but most instructive as Nezet-Seguin conjures the atmospherics, but also frames Strauss’ entire operatic drama. The internal drive calibrated by the chamber orchestra quality of the conductor’s circle, led by sumptuous violin leads by principal violinist David Kim.

Philadelphia Orchestra Nov. 29 (Juanjo Mena, conductor);Dec. 4 (Yannick Nezet-Seguin, conductor) performances in Verizon Hall, Philadelphia.

DanceMetros

Parsons Dance’s jazzy return to Philly

Miguel Quinones about to take permanent flight in the transcendent Parsons’ dance CAUGHT (photo B. Docktor)

The Dance Celebration series at the Annenberg Center is presenting one of the most diverse and stellar line-ups of companies for their 2014-15 season. The dance series has been struggling to maintain funding in its commitment to present all styles of dance from around the world. They kicked off with Britain’s BalletBoyz, Israel’s Kibbutz Contemporary Dance, Spain’s Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca, all attracting enthusiastic audiences, but still not enough to fill Annenberg’s spacious Zellerbach Theater.

The first week in December, the popular New York based troupe Parsons’ Dance returns with a mixed program of old and new repertoire.. Choreographer David Parsons is not only known for his athletic, sensual and diverse choreographies, but showing vastly different content each time out. His current tour is highlighted by his newest piece Whirlaway and dance-works by out choreographer Trey McIntyre and former Parsons dancer-choreographer Natalie Lomonte.

Whirlaway is scored to a song-cycle by jazz composer Allen Toussaint’s and had its premiere in New Orleans last spring in a sold out performance in a 2500 seat theater. “Everybody’s jaw dropped that we sold out,” Parsons said in a phone interview last week from the company’s studios in New York.

“Allen Toussaint is one of the most legendary singer-composers in the US. He played ‘Whirlaway’ live onstage behind us with a 12-piece band,” Parsons said. The choreographer collaborated directly with Toussaint “we sat around the studio and came up with the tracks for it and he was so great to work with. This is a fantastic piece closer for this Philly program. The music is more jazz-funk and it brings audiences together at the end. You feel like you are in New Orleans celebrating dance and beautiful bodies and music.

As he has done with other song suites, notably ’In the End’ scored to tracks from the Dave Matthews Band, Parsons often choreographs to popular music, usually with a cohesive narrative line. “There is always a thread that I like to communicate. I hate when people sit in a dance concert and have a question mark as to what it’s about. I like to bring something that has to do with their lives. “

Jazz scoring to contemporary dance is a rarity, but it is a standard method that Parsons is always experimenting with. His 2001 piece ’Kind of Blue’ set to Miles Davis’ ’So What’ (also on the Philly program) he describes as “improv based, there are segments where the dancers can go off, I don’t care. You know I like to have fun and I like them to have fun,” he assures. the dancers don’t have to stick to every choreographed move,” Parsons explains. “when we have time off on tour for instance, I get bored. So I would do these jazz improvs.”

Also in Philly, in sharp contrast, the troupe will dance Parsons’ ‘Bachiana’ (1993) scored to J.S.Bach’s Orchestral Suite no. 1, as you would expect is ” very balletic, Air on a G String section is the anchoring duet,“ Parsons describes, “it was first done on a French company and we‘ve danced it all over the world. . Now many other companies have danced it too.”

In addition to choreographing an average of two new pieces a year, David Parsons nurtures other dancer-choreographers with his creative support through Generation NOW Commission. On the current tour, he will be presenting former Parsons dancer-choreographer Natalie Lomonte’s preview of work in development. Lomonte teaches dance at Fordham University and also performs, most recently she dance captain and in the cast of “Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark.” Parsons said that he likes to “stay inside the family as much as we can. New choreographers need a place to show their work. Natalie knows the company and understands the physicality of our dancers.”

At every performance in Philly audiences have come to expect a performance of Parsons most dazzling signature piece ‘Caught‘ a solo work he created in 1982 that never looses its mystique or theatrical punch. Scored to trippy electronica music by Robert Fripp it is a tour de dance force that has been performed by both male and female members of the company. One of its amazing elements is the dancer’s breathtaking synchronization with a strobe light that gives the illusion of the dancer suspended in mid-air.

After Philly, the troupe is performing in Utah, then at the Joyce Theater in New York (Jan.21-Feb.1) before they embark on a six-week European tour.

Parsons Dance Dec. 4-6 at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts 3680 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA | http://www.annenbergcenter.org | 215.898.3900
http://www.parsonsdance.org