CELIA IPIOTIS REVIEWS "DANCIN'"

Photo by Julieta Cervantes
New York, New York March 23, 2023 --
Screams and whistles rattled the theater during the Bob Fosse Dancin' performance on a Wednesday evening. Studded with wildly enthusiastic dance students, shouts of encouragement -- "that's right!" "work it!" -- saluted dancers pouring themselves 125% into the impossible dance deeds.

The title Bob Fosse Dancin' suggests all the choreography is credited to Fosse, but that isn't always the case, and when bits and pieces are pasted into the production, pacing drags. Admired for his very specific, minimalist isolated movements-- eyes shift, eyebrows lift, fingers flick, feet flex, and hips snap -- Fosse moves are excitingly expressive. Contrary to the exaggerated, "watch me" Broadway musical dance style, Fosse's technique is subtle and exquisitely difficult.

Directed and staged by the highly regarded Wayne Cilento, who was once a Fosse dancer, Dancin' suffers from overstatement. Many in the cast performed in Fosse productions, so they hold his voice inside them, but time passes and if a dancer isn't imbued in the razor sharp incisions of this technique, the form loses its tightness.

Opening strong, the show throws a spotlight on the legendary Black tap dancer "Mr. Bojangles" effortlessly interpreted by Manuel Jacob Guzman. The rousing "Percussion" section demands liquid body rolls tightened into crystalline joint isolations with bent legs raised to the side, held high while tilting hips up and down---yup, and no one crashes.

One after another, the hits like "Big Spender" and "Sing, Sing, Sing's" Trumpet Solo, originally made famous by the unforgettable Ann Reinking, features an exuberant Kolton Krouse. Other standouts include Jacob Guzman and Mattie Love in "Romantic Fantasy," and the balletic whiz Peter John Chursin along with Dylis Croman in "Big City Mime." Quite frankly, anything featuring Croman hits the mark. Superb Fosse dancers like Croman and Love are distinguished by the vivid clarity of each gesture, each glance and each thrillingly measured choreographic sequence.

In the Second Act, if I understand correctly, "America" appeared in the original Fosse Dancin' production, but was actually choreographed by Charles Ward. Well known songs like "Yankee Doodle Dandy" kick the pizazz up a notch, but by this point, the revue starts to feel over-packed with goodies.

Robert Brill's set and David Grill's lighting design smartly mesh to suggest the Broadway scene with spotlights, line maps of the NYC, plus ceiling high ladders and poles. The music, conducted and directed by Justin Hornback, churns uninhibitedly underneath the breath-catching dancing.

Larded with top notch dancers, singers and actors, the company keeps up a heart-pounding pace. Despite some qualms about the production's shape, you certainly can't do better than Dancin' when it comes to watching the best dancing on Broadway.
EYE ON THE ARTS, NY -- Celia Ipiotis

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BALLET HISPANICO

Image
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's Línea Recta (Photo by Erin Baiano) New York, New York June 6, 202- - Ballet Hispanico celebrated its second season at City Center. True to its mission, Ballet Hispanico offers a voice to Latine choreographers as well as stellar dancers. The program opened with William Forsythe’s 1987 duet New Sleep , dedicated to the memory and legacy of Tina Ramirez, founding director (1929-2022). Fatima Andere and Antonio Cangiano, were almost always physically connected in high tech, quick partnering to composer Thom Willem’s aggressive score of metallic clanking sounds. Their exquisite pairing superseded the score, with luscious grand ronde de jambs, attitude pirouettes, torso undulations, arabesques en pointe. In Linea Recta , (2016), choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa has managed to pay homage to flamenco dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries in Spain. She modernizes the form featuring amazing partnering for eight dancers with music by Eri
Read more

DANCE AFRICA

Image
The National Dance Company of Ghana June 1, New York, New York-- The BAM Howard Gilman Opera House hosted DanceAfrica Festival 2023, entitled Golden Ghana: Adinkra, Ananse, and Abusua . Outdoors, a dynamic and crowded African street fair celebrated the culture and spectacle that would soon appear on stage. DanceAfrica’s Artistic Director Abdel R. Salaam hosted the National Dance Company of Ghana, the BAM Restoration Dance Youth Ensemble, and the Dance Africa Spirit Walkers. A two act performance began with Procession . First one drummer and then four more announced a pageantry of dancers, all in glorious costumes, paraded down the aisles from the back, following Candle Bearers in white. Soon children from the BAM Restoration Youth Ensemble pranced, skipped and hopped while honoring the elders, seated in the front row, who were the original founding members of DanceAfrica. DanceAfrica Spirit Walkers Memorial: The Living Adinkra , performed by DanceAfrica’s Spirit Wal
Read more

TRISHA BROWN DANCE COMPANY Review By Jonathan Matthews-Guzman For EYE ON THE ARTS

New York, New York May 10, 2023 -- Trisha Brown Dance Company has joined the pantheon of troupes with dead founders who are looking to living voices to keep their increasingly more versatilely trained bodies in fresh motion. How today’s artistic directors choose who gets to tack onto their institutional legacies is as particular as the culture of each company. The Graham Company, for instance, risks to invite contemporary choreographers who have not necessarily trained in Martha’s technique to create work in conversation with her vast archive. Interestingly, TBDC Associate Artistic Director Carolyn Lucas opted for a more conservative approach, inviting an alum. Judith Sánchez Ruíz danced under Trisha between 2006 and 2009, just missing the creation of "Rogues" in 2011, the program’s opener. At that time, Ruíz was abroad dancing for Sasha Waltz. Her premiere "Let’s Talk About Bleeding" closed the program outlining an intersection of Ruíz’s embodiment of American po
Read more