House of Olinghouse

Absolutely no advance tickets remain for Cori Olinghouse's voix de ville, but don't hesitate to get on the waiting list! You'd be mad to miss a chance to see this show, part of PLATFORM 2011: Body Madness, at Danspace Project.

Before I go further, let's get another layer of titling out of the way: DP ED Judy Hussie-Taylor--wearing her curator's hat this time--has labeled her chosen PLATFORM sequence "Part 1--Absurdity & Wit." All of this sounds impossibly clunky to my ears, but it really doesn't matter what Hussie-Taylor or her fellow PLATFORM curators call this or anything else. They have turned New York's contemporary dance scene upside down by radically expanding the nature of work we usually envision in the sanctuary of St. Mark's.

The lush jewel box of voix de ville ("voices of the city") contains three gems. Olinghouse's opener--The Animal Suite: Experiments in Vaudeville and Shapeshifting--deserves a more relaxed title. But its actual execution is pure, lapidarian grace. It lifts the audience away from time and into a fanciful world where vaudeville, eccentric, postmodern and house dance overlap, where gender identity ebbs and flows, and where fairytale birds and bears may coexist in peaceable spirit. The five-member cast is perfect--especially exquisite Olinghouse and Neal Beasley, whose Keatonesque-Chaplinesque dancing is a tasty joy.

(I think you'll enjoy this conversation between Olinghouse and MIT professor, writer and performer Thomas DeFrantz: Click here.)

The eccentrically-costumed Kota Yamazaki dances Itsuko san--part-Butoh, part-drag-from-hell, part fever dream--as splashes and splotches of music whimsically flare up and depart. His locomotion gets him from here to there but never through a straight path or with deliberate steps, and the dance just slips away, evaporates at the end. Quite right.

Elements of Vogue--created and performed by the truly legendary Archie Burnett (Olinghouse's master teacher) and Javier Ninja of the House of Ninja--ends the evening with a real house dance bang. Ninja is comically robotic and fussy to Burnett's sexy earthiness, but they both move with astonishing conviction and power.

Try to see voix de ville at Danspace Project tonight or tomorrow at 8pm. More information here and ticketing info here.

Danspace Project
St. Mark's Church
Second Avenue and 10th Street, Manhattan

Diasporan visions of Harlem's new photographers

Harlem Views/Diasporan Visions: The New Harlem Renaissance Photographers

An Interview with Curator Mary Yearwood

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

New York Public Library
515 Malcolm X Boulevard, Harlem
(map and directions)


Exhibition Hours: Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed Sunday.

For exhibition information, call (212) 491-2200.

No admission fee; contributions and memberships are welcome.

Pomare's legacy celebrated in Harlem

The Eleo Pomare Dance Company presents

Eleo Pomare: The Man, The Artist, The Maker of Artists

an exhibit honoring the legacy of Eleo Pomare, 1937-2008

Opening Friday, February 11 (5-9pm)

Lorraine Monroe Leadership Institute

361 West 125th Street, 2nd Floor, Harlem

(between St. Nicholas and Morningside Avenues)

A, C, B, or D train to the 125th Street

212-531-0515

The Pomare Exhibit will feature artifacts from Mr. Pomare’s career, original paintings and poetry by Mr. Pomare, and photographs of Pomare dancers by artist, David Fullard. The Pomare Exhibit will be curated by Andi Owens, Director of the Genesis II Museum of International Black Culture on Strivers Row in Harlem.

 A brief program featuring a video of Dyane Harvey performing Pomare’s classic Roots (1972) will begin at about 7pm.

Please RSVP by Tuesday, February 8: Judith Mutunga, 212-531-0515 or jmutunga@lmli.org

Because Pomare’s choreographic works spanned the 50s through 2008 and captured key elements of American history including events, heroes, anti-heroes, and life, we are encouraging school groups of all ages to visit the exhibit and learn about the Pomare legacy. The exhibit will be open for school groups from 11am through 4:30pm Monday through Thursday, February 14-17. To arrange for your school group to attend, contact Judith Mutunga, 212-531-0515 or jmutunga@lmli.org.

The Eleo Pomare Dance Company is grateful to Dr. Lorraine Monroe, premier educator and founder of the Lorraine Monroe Leadership Institute for providing housing for this exhibit, which will be presented this spring in an expanded form at the National Museum of Dance in Saratoga Springs, New York.

James Franco in "Sweet Bird" talks

Franco and Kidman in 'Sweet Bird' on Broadway

by Patrick Healy, The New York Times, February 2, 2011

The Times's headline is misleading, but it's great to know that our favorite Renaissance Man has found another potential project!

Public Theater's ED resigns

Public Theater's Executive Director Is Departing

by Patrick Healy, The New York Times, February 2, 2011

Dance Heritage group wants your essays

Online Treasures Exhibit—Call for Contributors

The Dance Heritage Coalition is soliciting contributions of essays for a new online exhibition presenting America’s Irreplaceable Dance Treasures: The First 100. The site will convert a successful traveling exhibit into a permanent online resource, including a 1,000-word essay on each of the Treasures, augmented by multimedia, links and references. This online exhibition will provide a much-needed web source for reliable scholarship on dance and a gateway to further research.

We are seeking writers to contribute 1,000-word essays, which should offer a fresh perspective on the significance of the subject, provide an accurate biographical/historical overview, and place the topic within dance scholarship. Essays should be written in clear, jargon-free language and include a list of recommended references.

Writers should have substantial knowledge of the subject, including academic study or professional experience, and have a successful record of professional and/or academic writing. If you are interested in contributing, please list the subject(s) you would like along with about 100 words on your credentials related to those topics. If available, include selected links or references to published works.

Contact: Imogen Smith, Project Manager, at ismith@danceheritage.org.

Essays have not been confirmed for the following subjects; those with asterisks are particularly in need of a writer. Additional topics may become available.

Charles “Cholly” Atkins

Ballet Russe

Michael Bennett

Bennington School of Dance

Jack Cole*

Honi Coles*

Aaron Copland

Merce Cunningham

Asadata Dafora*

Dance Notation Bureau

Dance Theater Workshop

Alexandra Danilova

Chuck Davis*

Agnes De Mille

Isadora Duncan

Katherine Dunham

Suzanne Farrell

Federal Dance Project*

Bob Fosse

Jose Greco*

Gregory Hines

Hanya Holm*

Lester Horton*

Doris Humphrey

Sol Hurok*

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival*

Robert Joffrey*

Master Juba*

Bella Lewitzky*

Jose Limon

Iolani Luahine*

Matteo and Carola Goya*

Donald McKayle*

Meredith Monk*

Lillian Moore*

Mark Morris

New York City Ballet

Bronislava Nijinska

Rudolf Nureyev*

The Nutcracker

Ruth Page*

Anna Pavlova

Pearl Primus*

Bill “Bojangles” Robinson

Ruth St. Denis*

Savoy Ballroom

Bessie Schonberg

Ted Shawn

Oliver Smith

Swing Dance

Helen Tamiris*

Twyla Tharp

Jennifer Tipton*

Antony Tudor

Edward Villella

Charles Weidman*

Dance Heritage Coalition
1111 16th St., NW, Suite 300, Washington, D.C. 20036
Phone: 202-223-8392 

Fax: 202-833-2686
dhc@danceheritage.org

"DMC" possessed

The Moth: Darryl "DMC" McDaniels

Run-DMC's Darryl "DMC" McDaniels admits his Sarah McLachlan obsession--and it's all good.