Eye On the Arts

                      ABT PRIDE NIGHT Review by Celia Ipiotis                                                      Lypsinka at ABT: Photo by Rosalie O'Connor A particular lightness filled the lobby of the NY State Theater on Oct. 27, the first Pride Night celebrated by American Ballet Theater. People in sparkly clothes beamed and tipped glasses of bubbly prior to the performance featuring a very special guest appearance by Lypsinka--a renown downtown drag artist.  Percolating with high energy and youthful joie de vive,  Bernstein in a Bubble  choreographed by Alexi Ratmansky to Leonard Bernstein's "Divertimento" kicked off the festivities. A tumble of dancers swing through jazzy, slinky steps with a nod towards "West Side Story." The playground jauntiness broke into smaller groups including a warm, bonding male duet. Read Full Review                  Jao Menegussi and Calvin Royal III in Touche: Photo by Rosalie O'Connor

               TWYLA NOW Reviewed by Celia Ipiotis Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia in Cornbread by Twyla Tharp Perky and full of spunk, Tyler Peck (NYCB Principal) performed  Cornbread   along with the animated Roman Mejia (NYCB Soloist)to folksy music by the renown Carolina Chocolate Drops (an old-time string band from NC). Illuminating her incomparable footwork, Peck trilled backward and forward on pointe. Bouncy jumps and high-stepping turns were reminiscent of hoe-downs where folks shared time together and swung their partners "round-and-round." Full Review

 THEN UNTIL NOW Reviewed by Mary Siedman                                                          Photo by Massimo Iacoboni Three veteran dancers/choreographers teamed up as colleagues and performers to present THEN UNTIL NOW, a 75 minute performance without intermission, spanning 40 years in the field. Known in the experimental, modern and educational fields of dance, Vicki Angel, Eric Barsness, Carol Clements served up a series of solos. Read Review.

                    LACKWANNA BLUES Reviewed by Celia Ipiotis                                           Junior Mack, Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Photo by Marc J. Franklin. Lackawana, NY, was one of those towns that lured many hopeful laborers up north only to test their spirits and claim their bodies. That hotspot of mobility and stagnation was home to Santiago Ruben-Hudson. Vivid memories of childhood animated Santiago-Hudson's autobiographical one-man show  Lackawanna Blues  at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater. Positioned on a relatively bare stage with only a stool, couple of chairs, table and the guitarist Junior Mack next to him, Santiago Hudson peppered his conversation with the soulful sound of a harmonica wailing the blues. Read full review.

  CAROLINE OR CHANGE Review by Celia Ipiotis Nasia Thomas, Harper Miles, Nya, Arica Jackson, Sharon D. Clarke. Photo by Joan Marcus. In this realistic musical written by Tony Kushner (author of Angels in America) with music by the amply talented Jeanine Tesori  Caroline or Change's , dark humor somersaults over whimsical events that turn the radio, washer, dryer, bus and moon into living, singing, dancing people. Astutely directed by Michael Longhurst, the musical plays against a backdrop of women finding their voices, earning degrees and busting into professional careers generally claimed by men. While politicians aim for the moon, the country reels in horror after the assassination of Kennedy and watches as Martin Luther King tries to heal the nation. But all this radiates as mere headlines behind Caroline's dilemma. Read the Review.

 GIBNEY COMPANY Review by Celia Ipiotis Gibney Company in Sonay Tayeh's "Oh Courage" with music by the Bengsons Three choreographers built pieces on a texturally impressive company of dancers: Lucien Oyen, a choreographer, director and playwright from Sweden; Rena Butler, dancer and Gibney Company Choreographic Associate; plus Sonya Tayeh, Tony-award winning choreographer of  Moulin Rouge! The Musical . Text and movement flowed through a shadowed space in Lucien Oyen's  The Game is Rigged  set to Gunnar Innvaer's sound design. Pedestrian movements stretched through modern dance forms revealing dancers equally capable of speaking and moving. With roots in the European dance theater movement, most visibly promoted by PIna Bausch, Oyen's choreography honed in on internal narratives spilling out of dancers' gestures. Read Review

  Treading by Elisa Monte. Photograph by Melissa Sherwood. Martha Graham Dance Co. MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY. Review by Nicole Duffy Robertson. The biggest surprise of the evening for me was  Treading , a duet created by Elisa Monte for the Graham company in 1979, to music by Steve Reich. An image of amorphous life grows into the full-bodied, sinewy Lloyd Knight, moving with stealth motion and bird-like arms. As he receded, Marzia Memoli replaced him centerstage and executed her own unhurried, gorgeous solo floor work, her articulate torso going from extreme contraction to extended arms back like a balletic swan. Costumed in skin-colored unitards with smudges, the two reunited in a series of gorgeous shapes and seamless partnering from some natural world, a slow, deliberate mating dance, unlike nature, a union with stunning control. To read the review click HERE .