Juilliard Dance Presents New Dances/Edition 2008

My friend Patrick took me to see the Juilliard Dance School's fall performance featuring each class year in a different new work by modern choreographer. It was absolutely wonderful to see the young student dancers; they were all so amazing that I am looking forward to seeing them all dance for many years to come! You can read what the Times had to say at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/12/arts/dance/12juil.html but here are my thoughts:

The choreography of the four pieces was a bit uneven. The Class of 2012 performed Sidra Bell's Refrain for a Broken Chorus to live accompaniment by the Juilliard Jazz Ensemble. The music was fun, the dancers wonderful and the choreography was diverting although not especially exciting. I found the weakest choreography to be Darrell Grand Moultrie's Exposed Sights performed by the Class of 2011 - there were some gimic mirrors but not enough interesting movement and certainly not enough use of all of the dancers.

Johannes Wieland's "because there isn't any" performed by the Class of 2010 was certainly intriguing. There was wonderful live, on-stage accordion accompaniment (which made me think of the Amelie soundtrack) and some truly exciting moments of leaping and spinning with some gifted dancers. However, the piece was way too long - each time I thought it would end it just started right up again. Also, the dancers periodically used a microphone to ask Is there a place that's peaceful? No, because there isn't any. I'm not quite sure what that dialogue had to do with the movement but it at least added something different to the afternoon.

The most exciting and interesting piece was the Class of 2009 in a Larry Keigwin piece called Runaway. Set to interesting electronic music, the lights created a type of runway around the right and front edge of the stage. The dancers came around on an almost constant stream, first in uptight suits and dresses, then in various stages of undress. There was a lot of posing and fun, entertaining movement and there were laughs and gasps to be had aplenty. I had seen some of Keigwin's work before but now I am definitely going to seek out more! Here is a taste of some of his other work so you can get an idea: