Paul Taylor Dance Company @ Rose Lehrman Arts Center - Review

I attended two performances by Paul Taylor Dance Company (Friday April 11th and Saturday April 12th) at the Rose Lehrman Arts Center (RLAC) located on the campus of Harrisburg Area Community College, in Harrisburg, PA. Each performance consisted of 3 distinct pieces, giving each night its own unique appeal. The Friday evening performance included Equinox, De Suenos Que Se Repiten (of recurring dreams) and Arden Court; Saturday evening contained Le Grand Puppetier, Banquet of Vultures, and Esplanade. I thought both performances were outstanding and everyone else I’ve spoken to that witnessed them agrees. With that said, I’ll relate to you the details of my experience.


Friday evening began with Equinox, sadly my memory of this has faded quite a bit and very few specifics remain. One segment of it, however, is etched vividly into my mind, the solo of Lisa Viola. I have never been so moved by the intensity and energy of a dancer as I was that night. I was actually given the opportunity to meet Lisa after the performance at the post performance meet and greet provided by RLAC. I told her how impressed I was and she even let me give her a hug! De Suenos Que Se Repiten (of recurring dreams) was the second and darkest piece of the evening. The entire piece was choreographed to the music of The Kronos Quartet from the album Nuevo. The central theme of this piece seemed to center on the dichotomy of life and death. It used imagery common in the Mexican culture Guadalupe (life giver), the Skull (death), and the Stag. The evening concluded with a performance of Arden Court. I had just seen the Taylor 2 version of this classic piece at the Miller Center at Reading Area Community College (click here to read my review), so I had a frame of reference for this work. To be completely honest, I liked the Taylor 2 version better than the production by the main company. The Taylor 2 performance was choreographed for a smaller number of dancers and thus had a much higher level of intensity. I still thoroughly enjoyed this larger scale production, but not quite as much as my first experience with Arden Court.

Saturday’s performance opened with Le Grand Puppetier, a piece that seems as though it may have been choreographed for child audiences. I make this claim based on two aspects of the production; plot line and costuming. The plot of this piece is extremely elementary and reminiscent of a fairy tale, complete with evil emperor and oppressed protagonist. On a positive note, this simplicity makes Puppetier easy to follow, enabling the audience to sit back and enjoy the dancers’ movements. The second work of the evening was Banquet of Vultures, which actually had a very similar theme to Puppetier, however significantly darker and more abstract. It, too, illustrates the corruption and irresponsibility of those in power, as well as its cyclical nature. The mood of this piece is enhanced through the amazing lighting design, which leaves the majority of the stage obscured in darkness with only a few hard edged spots of light. The performance closed with Esplanade. It showcased the athleticism of the dancers as they ran and leaped gracefully about the stage. It was an amazing ending to an amazing weekend of dance.

For more information click on the following links:
Paul Taylor Dance Company: http://www.ptdc.org/
Rose Lehrman Arts Center: http://www.hacc.edu/rose/

A review of my Ice Cream Social

I realize that I didn't mention that I was having a party, but that is just because I didn't anyone to feel bad for not being invited. I suppose this blog may do that as well, but I don't think anyone will be too hurt. On Sunday, I had an Ice Cream Social which was attended by several of my closest friends. My friend Caitlin posted a fantastic review on her blog (Shut up Downsey), so I've placed her review below for your enjoyment:

First of all, snaps to Randal for actually having people at his party. You know how you can invite twenty people, and maybe three end up coming, well, Randal, defying the previous standard upheld at his Haloween party, had a mighty turn out at his ice cream social. Short of the fact that chairs were limited, there was plenty of silly conversations and good company, a sometimes odd playlist, hulahooping, and oh yeah, there was punch. It was interesting to be in a room full of college kids enjoying themselves soberly. Sometime after learning that a medium pizza is medium sized and consuming weird mixtures of ice cream, people began trailing off, as is typical with all parties, and soon only seven party-goers remained.

I thank Caitlin for her review but she didn't mention how the party ended. One of my guests began looking through a book called Weird Pennsylvania, and we decided to take a road trip a place called the 7 Gates of Hell. We went on google maps and got directions, piled into two vehicles and made our way to the gates of Hell. The location turned out to be nothing more than woods. It was a bit of a disappointment, but how many people can say their Ice Cream Social ended in a trip to the gates of Hell.

Stay Tuned...

Two Announcements

First announcement… I’ve accepted the admissions offer of Carnegie Mellon. For those of you are curious, I did not get accepted to Columbia. I’m still waiting to hear back from NYU, but their decision won’t affect mine. Pittsburgh here I come. I’ll be moving out there in the beginning of August.

Second announcement… I’ll be teaching dance during June and July. I’ll be teaching a summer workshop in a studio in East Greenville, PA. It has been about two years since the last time I taught a dance class. I offered to volunteer, because it is only 8 weeks and I really just want to teach for the fun of it. The studio insisted that I receive some type of compensation. I think I might propose a trade. I’ve always wanted to learn how to tap dance, so I’m hoping that they will give me free lessons.

I’ll keep you posted on any developments…

Stay tuned…

Taylor 2 Dance Company - Review

On Thursday, March 27th, 2008 at 8pm, I attended a performance by Taylor 2, the sister company of Paul Taylor Dance Company, at the Miller Center for the Arts located on the campus of Reading Area Community College in Reading, PA. This was the final performance of this beautiful new center’s debut season. For those of who may not know, Paul Taylor Dance Company is a world class modern dance company, and Mr. Taylor is considered by some to be the greatest living choreographer. Taylor 2 consists of 6 talented young dancers, 3 male (Justin Kahan, John Eirich, and Nic Ceynowa) and 3 female (Alison Cook, Jamie Rae Walker, and Latra Wilson) who performed 3 classic Taylor pieces: Arden Court, Runes, and Company B.

The show opened with Arden Court an upbeat and light piece easily appreciated by the audience. The dancers moved to excerpts from Symphonies Nos. 1,3,5,7,8 by William Boyce. I was extremely impressed with the dynamic grace of the male dancers as moved about the stage. The choreography illustrated a series of playful relationships between the dancers that kept the crowd entertained from start to finish.

Runes was dark in every sense of the word, a sharp contrast to Arden Court, its content dealt with the concepts of magic, ritual sacrifice, and evolution. This piece had movements that were harsh and grounded, again contrasting the flowing airiness of the first piece. This piece required the active thought of audience members to decipher its message. I believe, as I mentioned in “Selling the Underground", that presenting artistic products that require thought reduce their mass appeal. This simply means that fewer people will be able to appreciate the depth of the work. I personally had mixed feelings about this piece, but I spoke with the Cathleen Stephen, Director of the Miller Center, and she told me that Runes was her favorite of the three pieces presented that evening.

The night ended with Company B, a work expressing the sentiments of Americans during World War II with music by the Andrews Sisters. The themes celebration and sadness during wartime are relatively universal, and are especially relevant to America in the 21st century. The most moving number was “There Will Never Be Another You” in which a couple grows increasing further apart until the male departs to join of marching procession upstage, leaving his female counterpart collapsed to her knees and staring off in anguish. It literally gave me goose bumps. Company B was my favorite piece of the evening and I felt it was an excellent way to end the night.

If any of you are interested in seeing Paul Taylor Dance Company or Taylor 2 they are currently touring Pennsylvania as part of the NEA’s “American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius” initiative. I will also be attending two performances (April 11th & 12th at 8pm) at the Rose Lehrman Arts Center located on the campus of Harrisburg Area Community College in Harrisburg, PA. For more information on these upcoming events or to purchase tickets go to the RLAC website: http://www.hacc.edu/rose

Links Related to this blog:
Miller Center for the Arts: http://www.racc.edu/millercenter/index.html
Paul Taylor Dance Company: http://www.ptdc.org/
Rose Lehrman Arts Center: http://www.hacc.edu/rose/

The Paradox of Internet Communication

Technology allows us to communicate with people around the world, yet it is isolating us from one another. The internet is a powerful tool, able to bring the world directly to us. Because we can now experience the world in a virtual form, we have become less likely to venture out into the real world. Detachment is becoming a way of life.

I, for one, am tired of having my most meaningful conversations with a computer. Text based communication has become increasingly pervasive and is eroding our ability to interact face to face. I have personally witnessed an instant message sent between roommates while they were in the same apartment; People sitting next to each other in the back seat of a car conversing via text message. I acknowledge that people are still communicating, possibly more so than in the past, but their method of communication is causing social skills to atrophy. This has been exacerbated by the use of social networking sites; to make new friends one must simply click a button. I suppose that this level of attachment shields us from the pain of rejection, but it also diminishes the positive emotions associated with friendship.

I implore you… GO OUT AND TALK TO SOMEONE! Sit down and have a conversation. I promise that you will experience something that you can’t get sitting in front of a computer screen. REAL HUMAN CONTACT.

I am well aware of the irony of using a blog to lament the digitization of humanity. In an attempt to absolve myself from complete hypocrisy, I’ve decide to draft this blog in a diner. I even went so far as to have 2 girls in the booth next to me read over my draft. They approved. I close by reminding you, we may live in a digital world but it is still populated by humans.

NYC Pictures

My friend Rachel finally uploaded the pictures from our trip to NYC last week. The first two pictures are of her at the Museum of Natural History. The last 4 are pictures of us at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I hope you find them interesting.

Stay tuned...

One down... Two to go

I’ve been accepted to Carnegie Mellon Master of Arts Management program and they are offering me a scholarship of $13,000 per semester (renewable as long as I keep my grades high). I’m excited to have been accepted and shocked that they are offering me so much support money. They have an amazing program, probably the most academically intensive arts administration program in the country. The only negative is the location, Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh has a very strong arts community, but I was kind of looking forward to studying in New York City. I suppose that I could still do my internship with a dance company in New York City but that may not be worth the effort, because Pittsburgh have several dance companies that tour extensively. Carnegie Mellon is one of the top universities in the country and they are offering me a lot of aid money to go there.

I still have two programs to hear back from, so I will reserve my decision until I’ve heard from them all. In the meantime, let me know what you would do in this situation.

I still don’t have the pictures from the NY trip, but I will try to post them soon.

Stay tuned….