Blues

Pam Tanowitz Dance
"Untitled" (The Blue Ballet)
The Kitchen
New York, NY
March 8, 2012

Uptown and downtown combined in the hour and a half long work, featuring former ABT dancers Ashley Tuttle, Sasha Dmochowski, and Brian Reeder, Jean Freebury (formerly with Cunningham), and John Heginbothan (currently with Mark Morris) performing Morton Feldman's String Quartet #1, performed live by the FLUX Quartet.  The music is atonal, un-rhythmic, austere, with occasional bursts of energy.  Tanowitz often choreographs through the music, as if she is creating a dialog, commenting on its moods.The simple, effective staging by Philip Trevino had two streams of fabric hanging at the back of the stage, where the dancers could disappear.  The women's costumes, by Karen Young, were very flattering, with the short, sheer skirts and colored tops (royal blue for Tuttle and grey for Dmochowski and Freebury).  The men's costumes were not as successful--the grey muscle shirts were fine, but the black pants seemed distractingly baggy. 

The focus was Ashley Tuttle, the former ABT principal noted for her delicacy and pristine musicality.  She was on stage for the whole dance (except for a hiatus in the when the dancers retire and the music takes over).  Tanowitz used her classical rigor, with glancing references to some of her noted classical roles (there are Giselle poses scattered throughout),  and often gives her a rigorous pose that oozes into an off center one.  Tanowitz, however, focused less on technique than on Tuttle's iridescent reticence, creating an isolated and slightly troubled presence.  There was a repeated motif of her quietly but forcefully slapping her arms against her body, like a captive bird.

The other dancers performed around her, sometimes ignoring her, and sometimes dancing with her.  There were some repeated motifs; Heginbotham had a series of elegant little prancing steps, taken up eventually by Reeder, who had a final dance with Tuttle, though the last scene was Tuttle alone in a sea of blue light.  But this was a work of mood, not narrative, and reflected the discordant, isolating music.  An hour and a half might be a bit long for some (it was for me), but the elements of the work itself were riveting, and all the dancers gave committed, finely honed, and haunting performances.

copyright © 2011 by Mary Cargill