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Lostwax Productions

LOSTWAX Productions - "Blinking" Takes It Past Blink
The University of Colorado/Boulder's Atlas Center presented LOSTWAX Productions "Blinking" to a packed house for one performance on Saturday evening January 21, 2012. And that packed house happened even as Pilobolus went up in an almost 2000 seat sell out less that two blocks away. "Blinking" is described by Director Jamie Jewett, as illuminating the missing sight that occurs when we blink and the hallucinatory cinema on the back of the eyelid. Jewett goes on to describe Malcolm Gladwell's description of human automatic mental processes that instantaneously produce conclusions from flashes of information, concluding that too much information interferes with accuracy. Somehow Jewett equates that perception of instantaneous flashes in information with an Allen Ginsburg statement of "First thought, best thought." What is missing here are any number of neuroscience research results on human thought that add a whole different component. Yes, humans often work on autopilot - for example when we walk, and maybe too often when we drive our cars - but there is a second component that takes thought past automated mental subroutines that Daniel Kahneman ("Thinking Fast and Slow") calls step two, slow thinking. In part that slow thinking manages those subroutines and searches for a comprehensive information heuristic that allows more valid conclusions. In fact, these researchers warn against "confident" statements based in the "intuition" of automated thought, as often being false with great costs to person and society. In reality Jewett recognizes that, and after allowing his audience to experience what approaches technical and dance information overload, he provides a contemplative vision of someone searching "memories" and "now" in an effort to find this moment. To me that is a clear excursion into "slow thinking."

"Blinking" actually opens in a very contemplative way with a video that is projected on a backstage scrim of a woman walking slowly on a pier, even as audience enters. Others seem to accidentally enter and exit the scene, but only her presence is constant. She turns to look at the camera, the video and house lights fade, a circle of light on the theater floor explodes in abstract projections, as does the scrim, and dancers enter. Jewett cleverly avoids the problem of video and dance forcing sight and attention choices, by having his dancer ensembles and individuals still until cued by bright lights that shift focus to the dance when he wants that. In fact, more than in most productions Jewett uses lights to focus audience eyes throughout. The media/dance blitz continues for some forty minutes, its performance life maintained with rapid changes in projections and movement, and the fact that the company has beautiful dancers who are so strong and exciting that they make the choreography explode through the space.

Donald K. Atwood
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Danse Etoile Ballet

Danse Etoile Ballet Presents a Totally Different Christmas Carol
Danse Etoile Ballet is presenting Marie Jose Payannet's version of "A Christmas Carol" at the Broomfield Colorado Auditorium on December 21 and 22, 2011, with the last performances being at 2:00 and 6:00 PM on Thursday December 22nd. Payannet's version is ever so different. No Ebenezer Scrooge - instead Ebonite Scrooge (Cecile Kyriakos), a sour and aging Ballet Diva, who in Act I is mean to everyone, and especially mean to her maid (Rachel Dreher). A maid who is mother to Tiny Lilly (Grace Braddock) - not Tiny Tim. And there are lots and lots of Ghosts - many of whom dance in unison ensemble - including beautiful ghosts of Past (MacKenzie Ramsey), Present (Alex Eddy), and of what the Future could be (Stacey Gibbs). (Nota Beni: Ebonite is a form of hard vulcanized rubber!)

Those Ghosts take Kyriakos on dream journeys that finally change her "Scrooge mentality." Her first to a Dance School where she revisits her mean mother (Marie Jose Payannet) dropping her off as a Young Ebonite (Meagan Knox) and never returning to claim her. Not even after a long class with girls who all get picked up by loving mommies. Then a continuation of that journey to revisit a young love affair between her slightly older self (Natalie Roubique) and Cooper Ramsey, and later where her by then slightly older lover (Christopher Darling) appears with his Wife (Alex Eddy). And on to her time dancing the role that made her famous - The Dying Swan.

Donald K. Atwood
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Colorado Ballet

"The Nutcracker" at The Colorado Ballet - The Mother Ginger of Them All

World Dance Reviews' tour of Front Range Colorado 2011 Nutcracker performances ended with the Colorado Ballet's performance at Denver's Ellie Calkins Opera House the evening of December 18th. During this tour it was so interesting to see how companies "adjusted" to allow for personnel and venue, especially in Act I, which requires a large cast of party goers, kids, and a sumptuous Christmas setting. Some companies simply removed various roles. Some adjusted to lacks of set with projections. All the performances were fun to watch. The Colorado Ballet (CB) just does not have to adjust. With their big professional company and large school of well trained dancers they can totally fill out each and every role required wonderfully - even recruiting Governors Hickenlooper and Owens as the Sherpas that carry in Arabian Chandra Kuykendall, who danced the Act II Arabian with Dmitri Trubchanov. And Colorado Ballet has "The Ellie" with its fly space, and a full pallet of scenes to fly into the stage at will. That truly makes the Colorado Ballet's Nutcracker the "Mother Ginger" of all Front Range, and probably Mountain West, Nutcrackers.

Donald K. Atwood
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Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Theatre

CPRDT's 2011 "Granny Dances To A Holiday Drum" - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
The Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble - together with it's "2nd Company," its "Trainin' Group and Youth Ensemble," its "Children's Ensemble," "The 'Granny' Band," and several local actors, singers, and dancers - is presenting the 2011 version of "Granny Dances to a Holiday Drum" at the University of Denver Newman Center's Byron Theater through December 18th. It includes all you could expect from Ms. Cleo's focus on inclusion and from her Dance Ensemble. It also includes a host of well trained young dancers from 6 to over 16 that are products of the Cleo Parker Robinson School, and actors and singers that are "Granny" mainstays, as well as some new ones. Together they present over two hours of stories and non-stop energy that is indeed Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

Does "Granny" stay the same? Yes!!! Does it change? You betcha! It started 20 years ago, and Marceline Freeman was always Granny. Now Marci is gone and new Granny's evolve. This year it is Trinidadian Margarita Taylor. Cleo herself is Granny's Angel, and Shanti. Vincent G. Robinson, whose credits say he is an actor, but clearly is some reincarnation of a Gospel Preacher and Choir Singer, is the "Griot," for his 12th time. Koffi Toudji is Granny's Drum, ably backed by the "Granny Band." And Toudji morphs into a street St. Nick singing - with the cast - parts of "The Night Before Christmas" in a Hip Hop section. Now you just know that Hip Hop was not there 20 years ago!!! Or was it? For the first time the "Cantador" is a member of CPRDT's Ensemble, as Katie Swenson embodies that role, adding a strong voice to what we all know are stunning dance capabilities. And Devin Baker and Melissa Tyler are Grandson TiSean and Granddaughter Nakia - at times with childlike wonder and then suddenly with blow away dances.

Donald K. Atwood
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Dixon Place

Choreographing the inhabited space - Dixon Place
Among the endless performative spaces that New York City has to offer Dixon Place seems to be one of those that "must be explored", at least for the people interested in the performance art of the downtown scene. One of the different programs that Dixon Place offers in dance is the "Crossing Boundaries". Taking place every last Tuesday of each month and curated by Marcia Monroe, choreographers perform their work-in-progress, excerpts of their work, or just short pieces that became parts of their process and experimentation. The performance on December 13th closed the circle of this program for 2011 by presenting the choreographers Patricia Hoffbauer, Smruti Patel, Jill Sigman, Sonia Lopes Soares and Raquel Cavalcanti.

Once entering the house, one sees Patricia Hoffbauer and Peggy Gould already on stage chatting between them or with familiar people in the audience. The performance is entitled "Para-dice (Stage 2)" as a continuation or may be a second step further of "Para-dice (Stage 1)" presented in 2010 in the Danspace Project. Last year next to Hoffbauer and Gould was George Emilio Sanchez, Elisa Osborne and Peter Richards, thus with surprise I discover that this time the cast is enriched with more performers. Once all seated, the rest of an amazing cast comes on stage - Irene Hultman, Tom Rawe, Sydney Stiff, Shelley Senter and Elli Janney. Hoffbauer starts to talk addressing the audience uttering phrases that sounded familiar to my ears. Those were more or less the same phrases from the ending of "Para-dice (Stage 1)". It immediately becomes intriguing to see where this new Stage is heading to. Do not expect to see pure dance here (intended in its "classical" form, though I wonder what can we actually categorize as "dance" and what not?) but to search for a meaning. Deja-vu comes to my head while I see this piece, Elisa Osborne partners with George Emilio Sanchez continuing their exotic duet as it has been started a year ago, while Hoffbauer and Gould even though mostly partnering together, they exchange partners during their tango dance. So, they all start to dance Tango. They may not be real tangueros but for sure they have learned some of its steps yet again that is not the pointâ€¦The spectator has to find his own point, his own meaning, his own paradiseâ€¦Whether Hoffbauer's uttered hints of the origins of the word "paradise" or the tango music and dance will help you find your way to paradise is up to you to discover. As I re-read this paragraph my own words read familiar - I did start writing with the same phrases in a review I wrote last year about this choreographer's work - as Hoffbauer ended and re-started - "Where lies MY paradise? Where is YOUR paradise? What is not in my body is realized in my soul" (Hoffbauer Stage 1).

Danai Giannakopoulou
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