Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – A high profile week for dance: NEDERLANDS DANS THEATER returns to City Center and The Joyce presents MAX ROACH 100

• By drediman
• April 5, 2024
• No Comments

This week was a high profile week in the dance world, highlighted by The Joyce Theater’s inspired celebration of the legendary drummer Max Roach, and the return of the world renowned Nederlands Dans Theater at New York City Center. As always, read on for my thoughts.

MAX ROACH 100
The Joyce Theater
Through April 7

This week, The Joyce Theater in Chelsea has been celebrating the centenary of legendary jazz drummer and activist Max Roach via a trio of distinct choreographic lenses – tap, hip-hop, and contemporary dance. Entitled Max Roach 100 (RECOMMENDED), the wonderfully curated program includes a screening of rare vintage footage of Roach in action (Max Roach Live: Video Art by Kit Fitzgerald), followed by three commissioned works set to some of the drummer’s most iconic music. After the brief scene-setting screening, things got off to a breathtaking start with Freedom… In Progress, a solo by the sensational Ayodele Casel, who thrillingly layered her unparalleled improvisational tap dancing skills onto Roach and pianist Cecil Taylor’s recording “Duet Improvisation #2”, creating a scintillating dialogue across time and space between Casel and the two musicians. The bill continued with street dance choreographer Rennie Harris’s impassioned Jim Has Crowed, a simultaneously celebratory and revolutionary homage to Roach the activist (the soundtrack pairs Roach with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech). The commemorative evening concluded with Ronald K. Brown and Arced Cabuag’s EVIDENCE/Malpaso collaboration Percussion Bitter Sweet: Tender Warriors, easily the most ambitious commission of the lot. Even if the soulfully rhythmic choreography eventually tended towards a certain sameness, the dancing by the large company was altogether heartfelt and intrinsically reactive to Roach’s Afro-Cuban drum riffs.

NEDERLANDS DANS THEATER
New York City Center
Through April 6

Then there was the highly anticipated New York return of the beloved Nederlands Dans Theater (RECOMMENDED), inarguably one of the leading contemporary dance companies in the world. Although its current lineup at City Center doesn’t quite hit the ecstatic heights of some of the company’s previous visits to the venue, it was nonetheless a privilege to see its unparalleled dancers in action – a sentiment shared by most, as evidenced by the sold out engagement. First up was William Forsythe’s N.N.N.N., a loose-limbed, martial arts-inspired piece for four dancers that examines the fine line between playfulness and aggression. With barely a drone-like whisper of sonic accompaniment, the work was a smart appetizer for the sensory treats to come. Up next on the bill was the US premiere of The Point Being, Imre van Opstal and Marne van Opstal’s atmospheric collaboration with design company DRIFT. Playing with perspective and moodily illuminated by apocalyptic lighting, the stage pictures conjured had a noir-like cinematic effect, working in brilliant concert with the Opstals’ fluid yet sculptural choreography; for me, the pungent piece was the highlight of the bill, and a perfect example of what makes the company so great. The evening concluded with another US premiere – Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar’s 2023 Jakie. Although undeniably striking, the work pretty much falls in line with much of the choreographers’ previous angular, relentlessly rhythmic works. Working as a single organism, the NDT dancers were nevertheless a seductive force, dancing with otherworldly incisiveness and athleticism.