The French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj has been careful to clarify that his 2010 dance “And then, one thousand years of peace” is not a literal reading of the Book of Revelation. Rather, it is an impressionistic rendering of the emotions and sensations evoked by reading the New Testament’s finale.
What are the five (or any number) personal qualities you would most hope to find, instill or unlock in a young student of dance hoping for a professional career today? Before a professional career, I would want to develop the depth and voice of the artist. To embolden the vision that they see of themselves and how they want to move and be in the world.
During Compagnie Käfig’s performance at the Royal Theatre, one of nine young male dancers ripped open his shirt. The shirt opened so easily and quickly, it was surely fastened with Velcro. Certainly, there was no fumbling with buttons. At any rate, it triggered an immediate response from the woman beside me on Friday night.
King, the Georgia-born and California-raised choreographer, founded Lines Ballet in 1982 after dancing with several companies including the Dance Theater of Harlem. His awards include New York Bessie Award for Choreographer/Creator in 2005 as well as a 2005 recognition from the Kennedy Center for Master of Choreography.
It’s all a wonder of simultaneous mastery and aspiration to witness, whether in a floor-bound ensemble piece that transforms the company into what appears to be a swarm of water-striding insects, a series of clingingly intertwined pas de deux, feverish solos or elaborate daisy chains.
Merzouki met the 11 performers, all Brazilian and all men, in 2006 at a Lyon dance festival. It's not a stretch, of course, to link Brazilian capoeira with hip-hop, both of them rooted in the martial arts and Latin and African dance.
The celebrated Franco-Brazilian Compagnie Kafig made its Washington debut Friday at the Kennedy Center. It may be Carnival season, but this all-male company appears to dance for the sake of joy and excess energy all year. Founded in 1996 by Mourad Merzouki, a French national of North African descent, the company pivoted to another hemisphere in 2006, after Merzouki saw a Brazilian troupe perform at a dance festival in Lyon, France.
Movement has long pervaded Indian thought. Dance here is a vivid element in religion, mythology, philosophy and art. Although I have spent over 35 years following dance in the West, a four-week visit to India in February made me feel that only now have I witnessed dance where it is truly central to culture.
“You’ve been there?” friends said in envy after Wednesday’s Nrityagram Dance Ensemble performance. Yes, I’ve seen Nrityagram in India, at its home village near Bangalore and in Chennai — and yet the New York audience is in no way shortchanged. These are among the world’s greatest dancers; on Wednesday they gave as complete and fulfilling a vision of their art as any I have seen anywhere.
In India, ancient temples teem with sculptures of dancing figures, testifying to the spiritual origins and importance of dance. To see a performance of a classical Indian dance in such a setting must be revelatory, an experience impossible for an Indian dance troupe to reproduce for North American audiences.
