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Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower
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Lincoln Center Out of Doors: Trisha Brown Dance Company

by Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower
August 21, 2002
New York, NY

About the Author:

Lincoln Center Out of Doors: Trisha Brown Dance Company


Special Thanks to Andrew Faureau, Public Relations,
Jenneth Webster, Producer, and Illese Alexander, Production Stage Manager

www.trishabrowncompany.org

Artistic Director/Choreographer: Trisha Brown
Executive Director: LaRue Allen
Company Manager: Jodi White

Review by Roberta E. Zlokower
August 21, 2002


Trisha Brown
Photo Courtesy of Vincent Pereira

For M.G.: The Movie (1991): Music is composed by Alvin Curran. Choreographed by Trisha Brown, male and female dancers, all in flesh color unitards, appearing naked to the eye, frenetically run around, across, and around the stage again, to the sounds of perhaps the City, with subway/train sound effects. Another observer likened the score to animals in the quiet stillness of the jungle. Perhaps the metaphor of "The Asphalt Jungle". Dancers threw themselves against the wind of the stage in swirls and clockwise/counterclockwise movements, to the machine-like (bird calls?) screeching, juxtaposed with quietude and slow mirror image dancing.

One sensed a feeling of alienation, anxiety, and the overwhelming need for survival. The score included solo piano portions, reminiscent of Eric Satie's or Maurice Ravel's early 20th Century compositions. Then, again, there were portions that appeared to be piano practicing, repetitive, dissonant, random notes and phrases.

In company notes, "The first piece in Trisha Brown's "Back to Zero" cycle - the choreographer's exploration of unconscious movement - is a haunting memorial to her friend Michael Guy. This work allows the possibility of varied interpretations by conjuring emotion with abstraction".

Twelve Ton Rose (1996): Music is composed by Anton Webern. Choreographed by Trisha Brown, this dynamic dance also contains similar costumes, all bright red, like summer pajamas, assisting in the flowing, swirling, sensual movements of the six dancers. In Company notes, "Twelve Ton Rose is the choreographer's elegant, ironic admission that to create the dance equivalent of a twelve-tone musical composition would perhaps be too academic, for the simple reason that 'the physical body is a cumbersome medium compared to sound' in this context".

Groove and Countermove (2000): Music is performed live by Composer and Jazz Trumpeter, Dave Douglas and his band (Greg Cohen, Double Bass, Guy Klucevsek, accordion, Mark Feldman, violin, Susie Ibarra, percussion, and Greg Tardy, tenor sax and clarinet). Choreographed by Trisha Brown, nine dancers in rainbow-colored unitards made full use of the vibrant, progressive jazz, targeting the percussive portions, and developing the remaining portions, of varying textures, with leaps, lifts, elongated, pendulum-like leg and arm twists, and spring-like spins. The accordion and bass provided a depth and rich background, as well as a sensual ambiance, and the dazzling percussion assisted the dancers in their vibrant visual aerobic solos, duos, and group choreography. This listener sensed qualities in the jazz composition, reminiscent of Miles Davis, as well as Eastern European dance tones.

In Company notes, "The final piece in the jazz trilogy (El Trilogy) reveals an intricate world of counterpoint between one dancer and the Company, the dance itself and Dave Douglas' music, and the frenetic energy of the movement and the Terry Winters set. Whether engaged in bold unison phrases or catapulting each other through the air, the dancers create an intriguing environment, at once easy-going and vitally expressive."

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