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The
dance world has converged on the Berkshires again this summer for
one of the world's premiere dance festivals, Jacob's Pillow,
in Becket, MA, on through August 30th. We recommend making
it part of a lovely weekend getaway this summer -- that perfect
fusion of nature and
culture -- spectacular landscapes and contemporary dance....
The
organizers have invited an eclectic mix of established and new
talent, including Doug Varone and Dancers, Merce
Cunningham Dance Company, Ballet Maribor and Gallim
Dance. We are particularly excited about what promises
to be an aesthetically riveting show: Pacific
Northwest Ballet's performance of 3 works by the late American
choreographer Ulysses Dove: Vespers, Red Angels, and Dancing
on the Front Porch of Heaven.
The
young Dove arrived in New York City from the South in 1970.
He danced for Merce Cunningham and later with Alvin
Ailey where he quickly rose to become a principal
dancer. Dove passed away in 1996 at the age of 49, but his
ballets live on, and are among the most mesmerizing works in the
contemporary repertoire. Time and speed play an important
role in Dove's choreography. His dancers' bent arm
extensions and deep knee bends, as well as the sheer force with
which they propel themselves across the stage are a legacy from
Ailey; but also a nod to another modern master, Balanchine, in the
emphasis on speed and what Dove himself called "legginess."
Dove added his own signature touches: the quick whiplash of the
dancer's body, astoundingly difficult choreography executed with
speed and precision, the almost frenetic pacing, the always
palpable sensuality.
Red
Angels is a tornado of a performance, set to Michael Einhorn's
mesmerizing electric violin piece Maxwell's Demon with its
hints of rock, blues, and frenzied Cajun fiddling! In Red
Angels the dancers pirouette, bend, and fly across the
stage. In the fourth movement, a burning red spotlight
descends on each dancer as they walk center stage and perform
solos at breakneck speed. They are demonic angels if
anything, red-hot and intensely physical presences, all fire as
they burn incandescent. Interestingly, Maxwell's Demon was a thought experiment by the Scottish physicist
James Clerk Maxwell featuring an imaginary demon that he devised
to contradict the second law of thermodynamics - separating fast
and slow moving molecules of gas in two adjacent compartments with
a trapdoor in between….but, to keep it simple, speed and
heat are what the experiment, the music, and the dance are all
about!
See:
Jacob's
Pillow
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