Put Your Dancing Shoes On

gotta love the old time theater marquee 

A sucker for all things dance, this past month I've been to the Joyce Theater twice.  Known for their modern dance performances, I've seen the Martha Graham Dance Company and Bill T. Jones' latest pieces.  Yesterday, too few residents showed up for a program, so free tickets were up for the RA taking.  

Divided into two evenings, the performances were billed as "Play and Play:  An Evening of Movement and Music."  I saw the one featuring his newer works called Program B, but the man sitting beside me described both programs as "absolutely spectacular."  

The show was AMAZING, and talk about your elite eight.  The first piece, "Ravel:  Landscape or Portrait?," was like stream of consciousness choreography.  Action fed reaction;  each new movement was a continuation of the one from the dancer before.  One would head into the wings.  Then the next would pop on stage and pick up right where they left off.  Lacking a strict storyline or elaborate costumes, it was all about the elaborate choreography and the dancers performing each piece.  Plus, the contemporary dancing was accompanied with a live performance by the Orion Strip Quartet. 

After a quick intermission, it was time for "Story/".  Last year, Bill T. Jones premiered "Story/Time," in which Jones read seventy of his own one-minute stories while dancers moved around him and a random score played.  Letting the audience decide for themselves what the title's second half should be, this season's premiere piece was shortened to just over half an hour.  Just like with the pre-intermission piece, the dancers here could be seen as a kind of family.  Solos, duets, and trios all arose, but the piece was only complete when all were on stage.  It featured the most amazing floor sequence I've ever seen between two dancers and ended with a very human whirlwind of a dance in progress. 

The Bill T. Jones/ Arnie Zane Dance Company's season ended at the Joyce Theater on April 7th, but if all this talk has left you craving more information on upcoming performances click here.