Seek balance: stefanie nelson Dancegroup at Triskelion Arts

Stefanie Nelson
(photo: Paul H. Taylor)

In TULA, Stefanie Nelson (stefanie nelson Dancegroup) and composer Wendy Leigh Wilf delve into the chakra system--the alignment of energy centers widely known through yoga and New Age practices. The seven fundamental chakras ("wheels") start at the base of one's feet and are stacked like rungs along the spine. Each chakra serves as an inlet/outlet, storehouse and processing center for etheric energy and....

Did you stop reading at "etheric?" My own background in esoteric pursuits gives me away, doesn't it?

It's also what drew me to Nelson's season at Triskelion Arts, a reasonable enough premise for a new dance. Couldn't we all use a little balance (tula), right about now?

Structured as seven parts that flow one into the next, Tula, expresses the nature of each chakra through movement and sound. In Chakra 1: To Have, for instance, Nelson keeps us constantly mindful of the ground/earth through deep pliés, collapses, hops, tests of balance, and noisy shuffling and footfalls. Wilf's percussion starts off spare but suggestive of weight giving into gravity--ba-DUM...ba-DUM...ba-DUM--eventually building up rhythms reminiscent of house music. Chakra 3: To Act, Nelson's most clever and visually dramatic, depicts a frenzy of rockstar/acolyte dynamics. That fiery chakra, her notes tell us, governs "personal power, will and self-esteem," and she certainly demonstrates how it can go awry.

Unfortunately, in execution, TULA looks uneven and unconvincing, even undercooked. One should feel the chakras and feel the dancers feeling them, not just going through the motions, however well. In a funny way, we should really forget that they are dancers and, instead, be moved to remember that they and we are, each one of us, chakras.

TULA continues tonight and tomorrow with performances at 8pm. For information and tickets, click here.

Performers: Erik Abbott-Main, Emily Giovine, Mor Mendel, Ali Schechter, and Benjamin Wolk with Alex Clair, Marissa Nigro and Amanda Reichert. Lighting design: Andrew Dickerson

Muriel Schulman Theater
Triskelion Arts
106 Calyer Street (between Clifford Place and Banker Street), Brooklyn
(map/directions)

Stefanie Nelson's "Prolegomena II" premieres

Stefanie Nelson's new evening-length piece, Prolegomena II, running now at Joyce SoHo, beckons you to plunge in. Anywhere. Really. But when you do, you will have to make your own way. Don't expect help.

As it opens, fog and radically intermittent lighting create dramatic mystery. A woman's body stretches and undulates in the mist, then appears to float, tread air and even disappear through clever theatrics I will not reveal. A solo violin sings of loneliness and mourning.

This is a roughly hour-long work--abstract in form yet informed by a patchwork of personal narratives and meanings. Created by a big collaborative team, it comes massively multi-layered in poetry, music, animations and the performance of Nelson's large and excellent ensemble, more sprawling and unruly than a linear 55 minutes can account for. It's fair to say that Prolegomena II deserves more than a single look, not just for the wonder of the performances but also the chance to dig into its deep pockets. You never know what you might find.

Samples of Nelson's Proximity Spiral
(Joyce SoHo, 2010)

Stefanie Nelson Dancegroup continues tonight at 7:30pm and tomorrow, Sunday, at 2pm at Joyce SoHo. Tonight's program includes a post-performance discussion. For information and tickets, click here.


Joyce SoHo

155 Mercer Street (one block south of Houston, one block west of Broadway)

(directions)

Spiraling through the natural world

Nature by Numbers

posted on Open Culture, March 21, 2010

This gorgeous short film by Cristóbal Vila should prove of particular interest to those of you who enjoyed Stefanie Nelson's recent premiere, Proximity Spiral, at Joyce SoHo (reviewed here).

Stefanie Nelson adds up

Stefanie Nelson's Proximity Spiral is one of those dances where you just want to run grab somebody and say, So you think you don't grok dance?, and then basically push them in the direction of someone like the fantastic Matthew Oaks and say, Just sit quietly and watch for a while. And, later, they thank you.

Oaks and seven other dazzling performers from Stefanie Nelson Dancegroup
presented the U.S. premiere of Proximity Spiral last evening at Joyce SoHo. This evening-length work turns the space into a red-hot pressure cooker. Nelson sidesteps any sense of normalcy or polite limits in her depiction of the human body and the proximity of bodies to one another. These bodies seem instinctual, untamed and edgy. The spiral in question is the Fibonacci sequence--0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34...--and there's nothing like a spiral, beauty and all, for conveying that feeling of unrelenting, tightening intensity. That's certainly what goes on when the strong, fluid and exuberant Ali Schecter and Ariana Siegel bust out all around a creepily dangerous-looking Oaks.

Nelson's inventiveness steadily builds and never seems gratuitous. Explore the mysterious terrain she has created, with a stellar collaborative team, at Joyce SoHo, now through Sunday. Post-performance discussion tonight.

Schedule and ticketing information