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This year is the third anniversary for New York City Center's Fall For Dance Festival. This festival is a week of performances starring thirty dance companies from around the world. Five companies perform each night for ten dollars per ticket. The theater's goal for this event is to promote their future season tickets as well as to encourage young audiences to attend live dance performances. It is a fantastic event that many people buy tickets for more than one evening, since each night features different companies. I attended the show on Friday September 29th starring Yi-Jo Lim Sun Dance Company, Dutch National Ballet, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Trisha Brown Dance Company, and Pennsylvania Ballet. For ten dollars I saw these dance companies put on their best show. It was a smorgasbord of grand dance pieces. The Yi-Jo Lim Sun Dance Company was a great opening to the evening with their elaborate and festive costumes. They performed a world premiere, Heaven and Earth choreographed by the artistic director Yi-Jo Lim. In the program it notes that this piece based on Oriental philosophy, states that mankind has always existed as a mediator between heaven and earth. He/she expresses this by performing sacrificial rites of praise and offerings. During this dance, offerings were expressed by shrugging of the shoulders in an animated fashion and displaying facial emotions with charm. The dancers portrayed a level of ecstasy that emanated across the stage. The company danced with delicacy using props such as pompoms, tambourines, and chime bells. It was a colorful festive dance full of delight and joy. The best piece of the night was from the Dutch National Ballet. The duet, a U.S. Premiere, Before After choreographed by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa was magnificent and blew the audience away. The couple was completely in sync with each other throughout the entire piece. Crisp and fluid choreography which was so acutely defined, created a breathtaking effect. During tight embraces coupled with quick throws, Julie Gardette never lost her footing. Francois Rousseau always tuned in with Gardette providing a cohesive pairing. The music and simple costumes added to this striking and powerful duet. The techno beat by Marc van Roon, involved variable musical notes along with the words "before," "after," "just," and as the light changed the sound changed. Enhancing the piece were costumes created by Mrs. Ochoa made of Lycra material that were removed in layers throughout the piece, reinforcing the physical drama that the couple was going through. Bill T. Jones and his excerpts from Last Supper at Uncle Tom's Cabin, began with a hilarious opening section involving a cast of unusual sized male dancers and two women, wearing muzzles and black thongs. They entered on the downstage panel behaving as ferocious militant dogs and Bill was their 'dog keeper.' Switching to the chapel scene the stage was filled with scattered clergy chairs, a long bench and table, and The Julius Hemphill Sextet that played live throughout the performance. At times in the choreography there was so much going on at once it was hard to attend to all the dancers. The stage was filled with the total cast of about 28 people. Dancers entered and exited from various sides of the stage in varied human formations. The part of the piece I remember the most was when 12 clergy chairs with a dancer behind each one were placed in diagonal formation from upstage right to downstage left. In what seemed like an eternity the dancers one by one did a series of steps using the front seat of the chairs chanting "one, two, three" etc. in a army like fashion while Bill on loud speaker delivered a poem with his back to the audience. I was disappointed when I realized I could not hear all of his profound words clearly while the dancers were chanting loudly on stage. I am sure that what surprised the audience was the male duet when one of the men came out nude and remained so throughout the piece. Trisha Brown Dance Company performed Set and Reset. Opening with a truncated dome shaped projector on the screen displaying old clips of train tracks and machinery. During an uncomfortable four to five minutes of undistinguishable clips, the dancers dispersed on stage as the projector was lifted and set above their heads. The music by Laurie Anderson was draining and monotone; it added nothing and actually detracted from the piece. The dancers were great movers but I felt the company was mostly young performers just beginning their careers, which seemed odd for an older established company. The performance lacked the pizzazz that an elder and more experienced performer can bring to the stage. The Pennsylvania Ballet impressed me with their New York Premiere, 11:11 that was danced entirely in ballet slippers. I was not expecting a contemporary ballet piece to be performed by this company, but I was delighted and surprised. More contemporary choreography is what I hope ballet companies will embrace and perform during 2006. The dancers with beautiful ballet bodies danced with precision to the clever contemporary movement created by Matthew Neenan. They took hold of the specific mannerisms in the various hand gestures and made it their own. The nonchalant music with lyrics by Rufus Wainwright added a playful quality to the piece. With non-stop choreography the dancers took the challenge and performed it with ease. New York City Centers festival was great entertainment. People of all ages and classes came together to see dancers from around the world perform. Being able to see five unique companies in one night, I would definitely recommend this experience to anyone and everyone involved in dance.
 Fall for Dance 2006 - Alonzo King's Lines Ballet - The MOROCCAN Project Photo © & courtesy of Marty Sohl |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Alonzo King's Lines Ballet - The MOROCCAN Project Photo © & courtesy of Marty Sohl |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - American Ballet Theatre - Swan Lake Photo © & courtesy of Rosalie O'Connor |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - American Ballet Theatre - Swan Lake Photo © & courtesy of Rosalie O'Connor |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - ASzURe & Artists - Mais We Photo © & courtesy of Liz Magic Laser |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - ASzURe & Artists - Mais We Photo © & courtesy of Liz Magic Laser |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Ballet Boyz - Torsion Photo © & courtesy of Panayiotis Sinnos |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Ballet Boyz - Torsion Photo © & courtesy of Panayiotis Sinnos |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company - Last Supper at Uncle Tom's Cabin Photo © & courtesy of Jeff Day |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company - Last Supper at Uncle Tom's Cabin Photo © & courtesy of Carol Rosegg |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Bridgman/Packer Dance - Under the Skin Photo © & courtesy of Eduardo Patino |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Bridgman/Packer Dance - Under the Skin Photo © & courtesy of Kelly Gottesman And Lisa Levart |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Bridgman/Packer Dance - Under the Skin Photo © & courtesy of Paul B. Goode |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Christopher Williams - The Portuguese Suite Photo © & courtesy of Paula Court |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Christopher Williams - The Portuguese Suite Photo © & courtesy of Paula Court |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie - Fifteen Heterosexual Duets Photo © & courtesy of Paul-Antoine Taillefer |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie - Fifteen Heterosexual Duets Photo © & courtesy of Paul-Antoine Taillefer |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie - Fifteen Heterosexual Duets Photo © & courtesy of Michael Slobodian |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Compagnie Franck II Louise - DROP IT! Photo © & courtesy of Christian Aquilina |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Compagnie Franck II Louise - DROP IT! Photo © & courtesy of Jpmarcon.com |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Compagnie La Baraka / Abou Lagraa - Ou Transe Photo © & courtesy of Michael Cavalca |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Compagnie La Baraka / Abou Lagraa - Ou Transe Photo © & courtesy of Michael Cavalca |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Dutch National Ballet - Second Detail Photo © & courtesy of Angela Sterling |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Dutch National Ballet - Before After Photo © & courtesy of Julie Gardette And François Rousseau |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Dutch National Ballet - Symphony in C Photo © & courtesy of Larissa Lezhina And Tamas Nagy |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - FARRUCO Photo © & courtesy of Rose Marba |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - FARRUCO Photo © & courtesy of Israel Sanchez Pietro |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Honvéd Dance Company - Black Pearl Photo © & courtesy of Peter Korniss |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Honvéd Dance Company - Black Pearl Photo © & courtesy of Peter Korniss |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Jason Samuels Smith's A.C.G.I. Photo © & courtesy of Michael Higgins |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Jason Samuels Smith's A.C.G.I. Photo © & courtesy of Carl McClarty |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Jason Samuels Smith's A.C.G.I. Photo © & courtesy of Carl McClarty |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - The Martha Graham Dance Company - Satyric Festival Song Photo © & courtesy of John Deane |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - The Martha Graham Dance Company - Satyric Festival Song Photo © & courtesy of John Deane |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Maureen Fleming Company - The Stairs Photo © & courtesy of Lois Greenfield |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - nathantrice/RITUALS Photo © & courtesy of Benjamin Goetz |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - nathantrice/RITUALS Photo © & courtesy of Benjamin Goetz |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - nathantrice/RITUALS Photo © & courtesy of Benjamin Goetz |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - New York City Ballet - In the Night Photo © & courtesy of Paul Kolnik |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - New York City Ballet - In the Night Photo © & courtesy of Paul Kolnik |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Nikolais Dance Theatre performed by Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company - Tensile Involvement Photo © & courtesy of Brent Herridge |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Nikolais Dance Theatre performed by Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company - Tensile Involvement Photo © & courtesy of Brent Herridge |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Nikolais Dance Theatre performed by Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company - Tensile Involvement Photo © & courtesy of Brent Herridge |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Odile Duboc – Contre Jour/CCN de Franche-Comté à Belfort - boléro, one Photo © & courtesy of Paul-Antoine Taillefer |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Odile Duboc – Contre Jour/CCN de Franche-Comté à Belfort - boléro, one Photo © & courtesy of Florian Tiedge |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Pacific Northwest Ballet - The Piano Dance Photo © & courtesy of Angela Sterling |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Pacific Northwest Ballet - The Piano Dance Photo © & courtesy of Angela Sterling |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Pacific Northwest Ballet - The Piano Dance Photo © & courtesy of Angela Sterling |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - The Parsons Dance Company - Swing Shift Photo © & courtesy of David Parsons |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Paul Taylor Dance Company - Syzygy |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Pennsylvania Ballet - 11:11 Photo © & courtesy of Paul Kolnik |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Pennsylvania Ballet - 11:11 Photo © & courtesy of Paul Kolnik |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Pennsylvania Ballet - 11:11 Photo © & courtesy of Paul Kolnik |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Random Dance - Polar Sequences Photo © & courtesy of Ravi Deepres |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Random Dance - Polar Sequences Photo © & courtesy of Ravi Deepres |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Random Dance - Polar Sequences Photo © & courtesy of Ravi Deepres |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Robert Moses' Kin Photo © & courtesy of Edward Casati |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Robert Moses' Kin Photo © & courtesy of Edward Casati |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Robert Moses' Kin Photo © & courtesy of Edward Casati |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Stephen Petronio Company Photo © & courtesy of Sarah Silver At Kate Ryan Inc. |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Stephen Petronio Company Photo © & courtesy of Sarah Silver At Kate Ryan Inc. |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Stephen Petronio Company - Lareigne Photo © & courtesy of Sarah Silver At Kate Ryan Inc. |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - STREB Extreme Action - Streb vs. Gravity Photo © & courtesy of Tom Caravaglia |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - STREB Extreme Action - Streb vs. Gravity Photo © & courtesy of Tom Caravaglia |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Trisha Brown Dance Company - Set and Reset Photo © & courtesy of Naoya Ikegani/Saitama Arts Foundation |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Trisha Brown Dance Company - Set and Reset Photo © & courtesy of Naoya Ikegani/Saitama Arts Foundation |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Yi-Jo Lim Sun Dance Company - Heaven and Earth Photo © & courtesy of Chan-Bok Kim |
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 Fall for Dance 2006 - Yi-Jo Lim Sun Dance Company - Heaven and Earth Photo © & courtesy of Chan-Bok Kim |
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