When I attend really good poetry readings, I let the words wash over me. I don’t mind that I forget specific phrases. It’s enough to hear the sound of the readers’ voices, to know that what they’ve written came from the gut.
With modern dance, it’s similar. I know each physical phrase is as carefully constructed as every written line in a poem. I can catch certain movements, but I really experience the dance piece as a whole. It’s intoxicating to see the human body move in contemporary dance, to see how it becomes this breathing art form.
Benjamin, Kate, and I went to see Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on June 6th.
Some shows stay with you, and this one definitely will.
The night began with “Indigo Rose” choreographed by Jiri Kylian. In this piece, there were playful interactions between the dancers, shadows of figures cast behind a diagonal white screen that challenged our perceptions of scale, and repeated sequences that were stunning in physicality, in how difficult they looked to achieve. We were close enough to see the dancers smiling at each other, and this was endearing. The whole thing felt like a celebration.
The second piece was “Ten Duets on a Theme of Rescue” by Crystal Pike. Wow! In one duet, dancers tapped the insides of their calves and thighs with their feet to create a percussive sound that corresponded with the music. Another duet began as a solo, and instead of another dancer joining in, the light became the partner. The most powerful duet for me featured a dancer walking slowly across the stage, looking forward but with one arm extended behind her, hand open, ready to accept the struggling dancer who followed her. He was running as if a strong wind were forcing him back, running desperate to grab ahold of her hand. In moments, they made brief contact, but he always slipped away. After each slip, he’d try again, running painfully. Because we were so close, we could see the anguish on his face and hear him breathing hard.
The third piece, “Necessity Again,“ by Jo Stromgren was sexy and vibrant. It involved 1940s swing costumes (which of course I loved) and a lot of props. Dancers moved with book pages scattered across the stage, in and out of clothesline, on and off of chairs, and one dancer gradually titled upside down on a heavy table that she held as she moved. Let me repeat that… upside down on a heavy table that she held as she moved. She was so strong! This part of the dance ended with her sliding off the table, neck first. Neck first. I love it when the head and neck are used in contemporary. It’s vulnerable and communicative. Hands too. In one phrase, dancers put their thumbs together and their fingers flat, as if creating a frame. Then they “fanned” their hands above their right hips as they strutted and repeated a word within the song. The word was ‘esperanza’ or ‘hope’ in Spanish. Given the challenges I face with my hip, this small phrase made me cry. Strong art always makes me cry.
After the third piece, we thought that the show was over, but we were treated to a rare and powerful encore by Ohad Naharin. The curtain lifted to reveal the ensemble, all decked out in black suits and hats, standing in front of a large semi circle of chairs. The dancers stood perfectly still, as we listened to a woman’s voice reciting a French poem. As the poem subsided, drumming and deep chanting began and the dancers sat down slowly. Then, beginning with the first dancer, each of them rose in stunning sequence, each of them bending back, until it was the last dancer’s turn. He bent back and fell forward onto the floor. Words can not fully describe this. It happened over and over. The dancers repeated a sequence of moves, then they did that cascading motion, over and over, and that last dancer fell each time. Everyone shed their clothing too, one article at a time, throwing shoes and pants and shirts into the center violently. Except for the last dancer. He remained fully clothed, falling and falling until the end.
Word can not fully describe this incredible company. To see the snippets of the first three pieces, watch this:
And to see the encore, go to 3:30 and enjoy here:
Sadly, this was Cedar Lake’s final bow, but we’ve saved our programs, and we are keeping mental lists of the choreographers and dancers, in hopes that they will regroup and resurface where we can see them again. So good, so good, so good!
