On Stage: 2011 Dance MVP’s

January 4, 2012

Man of Steel. He may be the toast of New York and other places (Jacob’s Pillow and international performances), but Kyle Abraham hasn’t forgotten his roots. Those indelible Pittsburgh connections gave rise to his immensely successful The Radio Show, which he brought back in an extended, more sophisticated version in the spring. (Kyle also lost his father this summer, whose Alzheimer’s and aphasia provided some of the most poignant moments in The Radio Show.) And then he unveiled the Pinocchio-inspired, largely autobiographical Live! The Realest Emcee at his home-away-from-home, the Kelly Strayhorn, in the fall. An embarrassment of choreographic riches.

Photo by Rich Sofranko

Woman of Steel. She wasn’t on view as much as we would have liked this year. But when Erin Halloran announced her retirement just prior to Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s The Nutcracker due to serious hip problems, we realized how much she had given us over the years despite that. Now it will be almost like watching a variation of The Red Shoes as we continue to watch some of the ballets she danced in the future, with only a mental spotlight sufficing for the radiance and technical purity of this quintessential Pittsburgh ballerina.

Another Final Bow. Another sad and sudden exit as the Dance Alloy Theater board did not renew any administrative or company contracts in August, then failed to inform the community. The Kelly Strayhorn has picked up the ball that the Alloy board so unceremoniously dropped. While there won’t be a company as of yet, there is still a school…and a building. The Alloy certainly will take another form, probably a pick-up group, when it resurfaces. That will likely be in May, when hope generally springs eternal.

Yet Another Final Bow. But then, how DO you take a bow in bellydance? Gracefully, as Zafira did at the Kelly Strayhorn in October. Still, Olivia Kissel, Christine Andrews and Maria Hamer will be undulating their way along new paths, some of which will still carve a sinuous direction around Pittsburgh.

Best Ensemble. After 15 years, Attack Theatre is like a well-oiled machine. But that doesn’t mean that it’s getting creaky. Liz Chang, Michele de la Reza, Peter Kope, Simon Thomas-Train, Dane Toney and Ashley Williams are not only smooth and seamless, but they collectively bring it, my friends, to every performance. A joy to watch. 

Dance Party. I love it when dancers take charge, which was what happened at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s Dancers Trust benefit. It’s always been a showcase by the dancers for company members to do something different and benefit their inevitable career transitions. This year, though, they had a genuine sense of showmanship, comedy and sheer fun — a ballet hat trick that is a rarity.

Discovery Channel. Staycee Pearl has struck the mother lode in her exploration  of award-winning writer Octavia Butler. Some call it sci-fi, but Staycee calls it Afrofuturism (or Magical Realism), which suits Staycee to a “T.” ( Look it up.) We met for a long-overdue conversation in the delightful Kazandra’s Cafe, conveniently located right next to the Kelly Strayhorn where Staycee is a resident artist.

Turnaround. I always say a good dancer should be able to hold an audience with his or her back. Zach Kapeluck took that idea to another dimension at Point Park University’s performing in September’s Student Choreography Project. As the opening lights shined down on him, they picked up a well-defined musculature that doubly impressed when he turned around. As I noted on CrossCurrents, he went from a budding classical dance poet the year before to something akin to a dancing Navy Seal. His artistic range should serve him well in the future.

Prix-ty Terrific. In 2011 Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School sent its first contestant to compete in the prestigious Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland…and its second. They were the lovely Anwen David and Aviana Adams, who represented the city with grace and aplomb.

Late Bloomer. Gia Cacalano has been improvising for years in Pittsburgh, but she was a cult figure and well-kept secret that flew under the radar. So it seems as if she has just truly burst onto the scene, with cutting edge performances at the Space Upstairs, SPACE and the Wood Street Galleries. That means both music and dance unfold in the moment in these juicy, shifting collaborations.

Fresh Bouquet. For the second year in a row, Pittsburgh dance is expanding. Pittsburgh fave Alan Obuzor debuted Texture Contemporary Ballet, while EVOLVE Productions, well, evolved by adding Continuum Dance Theater. Phinehas Hodges has a New Hazlett Theater series, “Speaking of…,” that relies heavily on young poets, of course, and dance companies and, speaking of young, Jaime Murphy and Renee Smith started the Murphy/Smith Dance Collective. Dance on!

At the Movies. I know this is technically a production company, but Emerging Pictures has expanded its coverage of international ballet and that means seeing some of the world’s greatest dancers, like Natalia Osipova and David Hallberg. Okay, maybe they’re on film, but they still pack a great artistic wallop. Catch upcoming events at The Oaks in Oakmont, but also Carmike theaters in Bethel Park, Altoona and Greensburg. I mean, really, when will the Bolshoi ever bourree into our immediate vicinity? Even the New York City Ballet, which is a heckuva lot closer, leaped into the pool with a simulcast (and an all-star cast) of its “Nutcracker” at Lincoln Center. Yes, digital is the way to go. Besides, it saves on touring costs.

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On Stage: Attack-ing Pitt

January 2, 2012

It’s a phenomenon alright. More and more companies are encouraging their dancers to participate in the creative act of choreography. The Kelly-Strayhorn promotes independent choreographers from Pittsburgh’s dancerly ranks. Just this fall Point Park University presented student choreography and Bodiography its annual Multiplicity program at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater. At Bodiography the dancers thought long and hard about their conceptual direction (a good thing), plus artistic director Maria Caruso performed a solo and long-time member Lauren Suflita Skrabalak (it was so good to see her again!) unveiled a new interest in choreography.

But Attack Theatre has come up with a new wrinkle. The company has joined forces  (via a grant) with the University of Pittsburgh’s graduate program in music composition. The organizations presented an informal concert at the Pittsburgh Opera space in the Strip District that had a surprisingly finished look about it.

For the record, there were seven composers, many of them playing in the evening’s live accompaniment, another plus. For the record, they were Matt Aelmore, Aaron Brooks, Chris Capizzi, Bomi Jang, Jonghee Kang, Charles Lwanga and Sookyung Sui. Those composers were paired (not necessarily in this order) with choreographers Jeff Davis, Michele de la Reza, Peter Kope (twice), Michael Walsh, Ashley Williams and the dynamic duo Renee Smith and Jamie Murphy.

The variety was terrific, from de la Reza’s delicious partnering in “Playback” (Brooks) to the gentle jazz of “Scenes,” where Williams captured a rainy afternoon (Capizzi). Davis had a whimsical touch in “Gifts From the Sea” (Kang) and Kope and Aelmore combined for a nonsensical solo for Toney, probably the audience favorite.

Shades of Merce Cunningham, Attack took some existing phrases and repurposed them  to the new music to lighten the load on the dancers (a good thing because Toney was in four of the seven works and the Attack dancers had just completed Holiday Unwrapped and PO’S Pearl Fishers). Hope it becomes an annual event, and, signaled by the inclusion of choreographers Murphy, Smith and Walsh and dancers Kaitlin Dann, Shana Simmons and Jessica Marino, grows to include more from the dance community.

 

 

 

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On Stage: Attack Theatre, Bared in the Strip

November 13, 2009

Preparing for "incident[s]"It’s controlled chaos at Attack Theatre’s new digs, only a week before the company bares its latest production, “Incident(s) in the Strip.” Without much ado, co-founder Peter Kope introduces Angel Streitman, a “swing dancer” who takes turns standing in for Kope himself, wife and co-founder Michele de la Reza and percussionist/skate boardist Charlie Palmer, along with being stage manager and electrician.

But then, I like to think that all the Attackers are cloned.

Although “Incident[s]” contains “40 minutes of balls-out dancing” in the first act, according to de la Reza, they are working on the second half, where “life is continuing with a series of intense movements that continually alters it.”

They are rehearsing on an array of platforms that will play a part in “Incident[s],” not only for the performers, but, yes, for you, the audience. Atop the platforms are four carved wooden screens that represent the interior, the home, a personal space.

This is the last rehearsal before the Attackers fly off to North Carolina Arts Market, a prestigious adjudicated festival that only occurs every two years. They will fly down as a team, since the Attack musicians are here rehearsing a wild blend of “La Traviata,” “The Muppet Show Theme” and a sassy samba.

All in the same spacious room. Whew! No walls, but tremendous concentration skills.

The Attack team will perform on Monday, fly back Tuesday and go into tech rehearsal for “Incident[s]” that very day for the opening night Friday.  ”That’s nothing new,” says de la Reza in an off-handed way. “We rechoreographed a dance on the plane to Indonesia once. We’re used to totally multi-tasking.”

The show originally was called “Strip.” Think Pittsburgh’s Strip District. Think the current economic downfall, stripping funds from the arts organizations. Although the “incidents” idea subsequently became the meat of the production, they didn’t want to lose the “Strip” idea.

So they do.

Protected by the wooden dividers, where the dancers do interior space tasks simulating shower andAttack Theatre's Charlie Palmertoilet routines, and some strategically-placed newspapers (Post-Gazette, of course), they begin to experiment.

“Hm-m-m,” I think, “This may be the most exciting rehearsal I’ve ever attended.”

Attack dancer Dane Toney blithely walks across the platforms with a piece of toilet paper trailing from his right shoe. But he quickly concedes that he won’t be wearing shoes. It’s all part of the creative process where Attack draws from a myriad of resources, all of which at some point tumble onto the dance floor.

In other words, abstract dancerly rebounds from the first half turn into people running into each other in the street…in the Strip, of course.

Here’s some of the sections to look for: “Mail,” “Jacket,” “Stupid Human Tricks,” “Hairpull,” “Praying.” Quite a range, you might say. But there’s more. While the dancers have a playful argument over eating eggs, music director Dave Eggar takes a break from his Latino mode to talk about the music, always such an important part of Attack Theatre’s appeal.

The first act, he explains, is “full and transcendent and atmospheric. In other words, the band rocks out. The second act, with its huge shift, finds the band going acoustic, which means cello, water bottles, bicycle wheel and other accoutrements.

Eggar invokes the name of 20th century composer Morton Feldman. According to Eggar, Feldman says that when musical pieces transcend an hour, “structure gives way to proportion and proportion is impacted by groups of material invading the space.”

Think about it.

In the meantime, Eggar moves on. He likens “Incident[s]” to a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book, where the Attack artists make a number of decisions during the creative process that determine any number of outcomes.

Pittsburgh Opera studio is being prepared for Attack TheatreThe musicians like that because they have a part in the artistic plan. Take Palmer, ordinarily a percussionist. When he was 11, “Back to the Future” inspired him to take up skateboarding. He can do tricks like a 360 degree kick flip. That will affect the performance.Tom Pirozzi, ordinarily holding forth on electric bass, will lose it in the second act, becoming, according to Eggar, a “hovering existential existence” or an overseer with Seinfeldian observations.

Eggar also calls it “harrowing because we’re creating in the studio in the moment. So right now we don’t know how act two ends. Anything can happen, like my doing a dance solo on a pile of people while I’m playing the cello. All bets are off.”

So the band might write the best or most popular or the hookiest music the member can write, if it’s for themselves. In the Attack show, the goal will be to dissolve a little and re-emerge with something that both serves the music and heightens the overall artistic vision of the piece. “It’s that marriage of the art forms at Attack Theatre that makes things fun and vital and alive,” says Eggar.

Not only for the dancers and the band, but for the audience.

Photos by Rebecca Himberger.

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