Through the Eyes of a Dancer: Selected Writings

Contents

Contents List of Illustrations xi Acknowledgments xiii Introduction xv i. the SixtieS 1 One Route from Ballet to Postmodern 3 ii. the SeventieS 17 Barbara Lloyd (Dilley) 19 Followable Dancing: Mary Overlie and David Gordon 21 People Improvisation: Grand Union 24 Consuming Determination: Lucinda Childs 27 Older Is Better 29 Exporting SoHo 32 Improvisation: The Man Who Gets Away with It—Radio Host James Irsay 37 Only an Illusion: On Street Performers 39 Starting from Nothing: Michael Moschen 42 Masters of Surprise: Baryshnikov and Astaire 45 Interview with Susan Sontag: On Writing, Art, Feminism, Life, and Death 50 Dumb Art: Beautiful but Not Too Bright 58 iii. the eightieS 65 Bausch, Brecht, and Sex: Kontakthof by Pina Bausch 69 The Structure of Seduction 72 Book Review: The Intimate Act of Choreography 75 The Holes in Tin Quiz—Notes on My Duet 81 Containing Differences in Time—My Choreographic Process 83 Shoot for the Moon, but Don’t Aim Too Hard—On J. D. Salinger 92 iv. the ninetieS 99 Beware the Egos of Critics 101 Trisha Brown on Tour 105 American Dance Guild Concert Review 110 Love Is the Crooked Thing: Paris Opéra Ballet 112 Book Review: Jill Johnston’s Marmalade Me Reissued 114 Looking Back on the “Embodiment of Ecstasy”—Sara Rudner 116 The Power of Stripping Down to Nothingness—The Butoh Diaspora 120 The New Russia: Sasha Pepelyaev’s Kinetic Theatre 124 v. From 2000 to 2004 127 Seeing Balanchine, Watching Whelan 131 Merce at Martha@Mother—Richard Move 135 Moving, Joyfully and Carefully, into Old Age 138 An Improbable Pair on a Quest into the Past—Baryshnikov and Rainer 142 Katherine Dunham: One-Woman Revolution 147 Martha Clarke: Between Terror and Desire 152 Misha’s New Passion: Judson Dance Theater 157 Living with aiDs: Six Dancers Share Their Stories 163 Irina Loves Maxim—ABT’s Russian Couple 170 Twyla Tharp: Still Pushing the Boundaries 175 The Struggle of the Black Artist to Dance Freely 182 A Dance Turns Darker, Its Maker More American—Patricia Hoffbauer 186 Paying Heed to the Mysteries of Trisha Brown 190 East (Coast) Meets West (Coast): Eiko & Koma Collaborate with Anna Halprin 195 Bill T. Jones Searches for Beauty, and a New Home 200 Snip, Snip: Dance, Too, Needs Editing 205 Batsheva Dance Company: Naharin’s Virus 208 Kirov Classics Hit and Miss 211 Way Up High, Soaring, Floating, Diving, Dancing—Joanna Haigood 213 Russia Makes Room for Contemporary Dance 217 Wendy Whelan: The Edgy Ballerina 221 vi. From 2004 to 2007 225 Tere O’Connor Dance 227 Lori Belilove and the Isadora Duncan Dance Company 228 Susan Marshall & Company 230 Stan Won’t Dance 232 Urban Bush Women 233 Miguel Gutierrez and the Powerful People 234 American Ballet Theatre 236 Book Review: Feelings Are Facts: A Life, by Yvonne Rainer 239 New York City Ballet: Winter Season 2007 242 Enchanted by Cuba 246 vii. From 2007 to 2012 251 A Brave, Illuminating, Terrific New Book—Carolyn Brown on Cunningham and Cage 253 New York City Ballet: Winter Season 2008 255 New Works Festival: San Francisco Ballet 258 Akram Khan’s Bahok 261 Flamenco Master in Silence: Was Israel Galván Improvising? 263 Trey McIntyre Project 264 Pacific Northwest Ballet: All Tharp 266 Boston Ballet: Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes Centennial Celebration 268 Spoleto Festival (Festival dei 2Mondi) 270 The Forsythe Company: Decreation 274 Twyla’s New Musical Flies, But . . . 276 International Exposure—The Tel Aviv Festival 278 Lemi Ponifasio 282 Necessary Weather (revival)—Dana Reitz and Sara Rudner 283 Why Don’t Women Make Dances Like That Any More? 284 Blogging about the Process of Choreography—Ugh! 286 The Times They Are A-Changin’ 288 Biennale de la Danse de Lyon 292 Ralph Lemon 295 Crystal Pite 296 Politeness: Is It Crucial to the Future of Ballet? 298 National Ballet of Canada 301 Is Appropriation the Same as Stealing and Why Is It Happening More Now? 303 Is There a Blackout on Black Swan’s Dancing? 307 Putting the Black Swan Blackout in Context 309 Can a Floor Give You Spiritual Energy? Ask Jared Grimes 311 Eiko & Koma: The Unnatural Side of Communing with Nature 313 Merce’s Other Legacy 316 A Debate on Snark 318 The Joffrey Ballet 321 Afterword 323 Credits 325 Index 327 ...