Are we here?

This is where we are (or take arms against a sea of troubles), a new piece by K. J. Holmes, inhabits The Chocolate Factory in such an intimate way that I would blush if that were possible for me. It is less a multidisciplinary dance as a cluster of natural forces that ooze and rub and blow and explode around the raw architecture of the space. Being natural forces, they resist containment.

Your evening starts in the Choc’s narrow, stuffy waiting area as you stand, gazing up those familar metal steps into the building’s upstairs theater. A few madly-dressed dancers slither from the door and over the brick walls. Through the open door, you can see dramatic blue lighting and more dancing deep into the space. It looks wild, like something shaken a very, very long time ago and just now revealed.

Eventually, dancers lead everyone downstairs and scatter to all points, and seemingly, all crevasses in the semi-darkness as audience members take seats on folding chairs. The smell of pine fills the air; heaps of sad little Christmas trees and their chopped-off branches and slabs and curls of bark litter the space, a forest primeval animated by yodels, the shushing slip of feet across the floor, and the spare but resonant live music. A half-naked woman slowly swims across a wall. She becomes engulfed in and stained by a projection, trapped in a stained glass image, and later buried beneath pine branches as she and Holmes intone an indecipherable chant.

More occurs in this claustrophobic space, and then we’re pointed up the stairs and lined up in tightly spaced rows against a long wall. Here, as if we’ve climbed a mountain, the dominant feeling is one of acceleration, rushing air. Bodies, music, visual projections and spoken words, according to a program note, gathered from everywhere--from Socrates to Mother Goose, from Harold Pinter to Howard Zinn--whip up and spread throughout the space, sliced from their contexts. These elements sometimes split your focus around the room, or they collide.

There’s witchy beauty, and this ambitious production should be experienced. I must admit, though, that as the hour unfolded, I started to feel like a mother sitting with an exceedingly bright, curious child who’s excited to show me more and more and more and more precious, fascinating discoveries. It left me exhausted and dazed, certain of only one thing--sometimes all the words in the world are inadequate to explain where we are and why.

Performed by a strong cast including Holmes, Jodi Bender, Keith Biesack, Marin Sander-Holzman, Kathy Westwater, Devika Wickremesinghe

With musicians Doug MacKenzie, David Moss and Charlie Rauh; lighting and projection designer Tom Ontiveros; costume design catalyst Ella Veres. Recorded text by Julie Carr.

This is where we are (or take arms against a sea of troubles) continues through Saturday evening, 8pm. For tickets, click here.

The Chocolate Factory
5-49 49th Avenue, Long Island City
(map and directions)

In step with writer Ennis Smith

Ennis Smith

I'm enjoying this amazing, dynamic new multifaceted arts site created by one of my former Writing on Dance students, Ennis Smith. Be sure to check it out!

Rays of light

My body is a halfway house for a ray of light. -- Marc Bamuthi Joseph

Last evening, 651 Arts brought together the fabulous Ntozake Shange and Marc Bamuthi Joseph--"fabulous" modifies both of them, thank you--for a conversation that could have, should have gone on all night. From the outset--with Joseph explaining that his middle name means "of the trees" and Shange acknowledging that "trees carry spirits"--everyone could feel that these two charming, multi-talented, politically astute artists ride the same wavelength and have much to share. I'm still buoyed and buzzing from this one-time-only, one-of-a-kind, event, which took place before a full and fully mesmerized audience at the Mark Morris Dance Center as part of 651 Arts' Live & Outspoken series.

 

Joseph opened by offering excerpts from Word Becomes Flesh, a solo that takes the familiar concept of spoken word and pumps it up into super-embodied word--a steady roll of movement, narrative and allegorical characterization treating historical and societal realities. Later, as Shange interviewed him, Joseph cited the world-renowned Tap God. "The way Savion Glover hears rhythm and channels it through his body is the way I aspire to hear language and channel it through my body," he said. "The body is the primary mechanism for carrying a story and for the making of ritual." He certainly has come a long way from the nine-year-old who--auditioning for Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk--did not know how to dance. Unimaginable!

Like Joseph, we were all beguiled by the presence of the author of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf. Shange, as interviewer, brought insightful questions and an effervescent spirit of generosity and wit. Imagine Shange--"she who walks like a lion"--wondering about the distinction between Ruby Keeler (of the hard-charging feet) and Ginger Rogers (of the light-skimming feet) and Joseph answering with a juicily word-embodied elucidation of the Afro-Haitian snake god, Damballah. Pure joy, pure joy. The two of them should really take this act on the road.

For Colored Girls deeply influenced the young Joseph, to be sure, and clearly directed his sense of compassion towards women and his commitment to playing a positive role as educator and activist. It would have been great to hear a little about his concern for environmental issues and eco-equity, described as "the radically democratic position that poor communities and communities of color are logistically and psychologically included in the new, clean and green economy." But if this interests you, keep watch for his upcoming performance project--red black and green: a blues. You can find out more about it at Life is Living.

To keep pace with 651 Arts, click here. Next up: poet-activist Amiri Baraka interviews actor-director Stephen Henderson, April 5, 7pm. (Information and ticketing)

The Brick launches Iranian theater fest

Iranian Theater Festival at the Brick
by Larry Rohter, The New York Times, March 2, 2011

Speaking our truths: American Slavery Project

Here's a note of appreciation for The New Black Fest's American Slavery Project and last evening's presentation--a reading of Judy Tate's play Fast Blood--at CAP 21 with support from 651 Arts. Directed by Melissa Maxwell, this play deals with a perilous, potentially transformative moment in the lives of Black slaves and white slaveholders in the American South of 1845. Tate is blessed with a compelling eight-member cast--in particular, Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr., Messeret Stroman, Shane Taylor and William C. Sullivan--insightful and powerful performers all.

The American Slavery Project initiates "new conversations around theater’s role in counteracting the increasing revisionism in our political/social discourse about the Civil War and slavery" and "aims to promote a new generation of African-American voices who are telling the diverse and rich stories from an era that most adversely affected us."

Look for future presentations in this series of free readings and discussions. For program information click here. To make reservations, click here.

Stop the world! I wanna dance!

dance anywhere®

What if the world stopped to dance?

Friday, March 18, 2011

6 continents, 27 countries, 316 cities

dance anywhere® is a global public art event taking place on Friday, March 18, 2011 at noon PST (3pm in NYC; 8pm in Paris or Rome). 

Created by San Francisco Bay Area based artist Beth Fein in 2005, dance anywhere® has turned into a world wide dance party with thousands of participants across the United States and as far away as Namibia, Australia and Shanghai.

Where will you be?

at work? taking a lunch break? in class? running an errand? in line at the bank? the library? the grocery store? walking the dog in the park?… do something different! change your routine … Tap your foot, move a little, bob your head…with your friends, family or colleagues or strangers on the street - wherever you will be - join thousands everywhere around the world
Please join us this year and help spread the word about this inspiring event!

For full details about this event, visit us on our website.

Event info on Facebook

dance anywhere's Facebook page

Follow us on Twitter: @danceanywhere
This is a FREE event! You can login to the website and create your profile to promote yourself or your dance company's dance anywhere® event.

Throwing away that program? Think again!

Of Programs and Archives
by Camille LeFevre, Mélange, March 6, 2011