Peter Jay Sharp Theater, New York, NY.
September 14, 2024.
The Juilliard Faculty offered its first ever Fall Competition in September with dwell music, dance and theater performances over the course of the 10-day run. The competition supplies a possibility for younger artists to current themselves each honoring basic works and pushing new boundaries of artistry.
Naturally, the expertise pool for a faculty like Juilliard runs deep and was evident within the technical aptitude of all of the dancers and musicians on stage. The evening of September 14, entitled The New: Celebrating Charles Ives and American Experimentalism in Music, Dance and Drama, directed by Pam Tanowitz, hosted a whopping 16 completely different works and whereas all gratifying, a few of the dances and musical displays flew by so quick, it was tough to let the work sink in. That stated, the standard of dance and music onstage bodes nicely for the way forward for each, as soon as these artists discover extra outdoors the confines of a college ambiance.
The night opened with John Cage’s 4’33” – though this reviewer missed it as a result of there are two theaters with the identical identify in NYC, a reality I didn’t know till I went to the fallacious one. That stated, my 4’33” of the evening consisted of a a lot completely different expression than the one on this system…as a substitute I heard, “Stand away from the closing doorways, please” from the prepare conductor, not the room sound I imagined to be the case within the theater.
General, the presence of musicians on the stage with the dancers (for the items with dwell music), stood out as a poignant reminder of the connection between music and dance. This interaction between artists is commonly relegated to a extra unseen relationship with musicians within the pit and the dancers onstage, however seeing each artists impacted the richness of the works and introduced a way of grounded humanity to the performances.
Additionally of be aware have been the 2 items with feminine artists, Argoru 1 (for piano and a dancer) and Two Little Flowers (for piano and soprano). Watching these girls assist one another of their artwork and on the stage was a pleasing expertise to consider the chances of how their careers might encourage younger women to comply with their very own goals.
The evening additionally included two items entitled Foyer Dance and Scrim Dance, with dancers making their means again to the stage after intermission from the foyer in Foyer Dance (presumably – it was arduous to inform the place they began as I used to be in my seat), and previous to the final piece of the night in Scrim Dance, which was one thing of a dancing parade in entrance of the closed curtain.
The evening was rather a lot to soak up, a cornucopia of artwork, however what tied all of it collectively was the straightforward, but gorgeous mild design and coloration tones. The wealthy vibrancy of coloration, usually paired with shadows and blacklight was like a definite, however welcoming fragrance – a way that you just barely discover, however one thing that enriches the whole lot in the way in which artwork ought to. Typically you possibly can’t clarify it, however you already know it made you are feeling one thing.
By Emily Sarkissian of Dance Informa.
