|
|
Above: Skulls Duet from Gallery (1978)
Below: Scenes of Interlude from Gallery
|
|
Gallery at the Joyce
Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company
February 914, 2016
Joyce Theater, New York City
Commentary
I am aesthetically challenged by the revivals of those dance works that choreographers produced in the dim past. What is the obligation of those who prepare and present the revival?
First, we need to recognize that the recording of dance works is nebulous. A Labanotation score is a dry document. Film lacks the third dimension. And words
well, are just words.
So where do we go to reproduce the real works? Art works such as painting, sculpture, and architecture exist and so can be copied as desired. Music? Music has problems. How different from the original is Bach played on a modern piano! And how many versions of the Hallelujah Chorus have we heard? But when produced by artists we recognize it because the notes have not been changed. The fundamental premise of the piece has not been altered. And done by artists we are uplifted.
Dance has Bachs problems. In reconstruction the instruments have changed. Every body is different, with a tonality of its own, just as a modern piano differs from Bachs clavichord. Music, in addition to the actual notes, has its tempo, its volume, it accents, etc. (which gives the line of sound distinction), and its environment (the acoustics of venue since music is an aural art). And motion has, in addition to the steps, tempo, texture of motion, accompaniment, manner of performance, and its environment.
So how do we fulfill our obligation to reproduce dance art as faithfully as possible?
Labanotation gives a fairly accurate record of stepsthe movement of the dance, together with a visual record. Film does the same. Written instructions exist. But just as music reproduction depends upon the performer, so does dance. The dance artist can (and most usually do) do a good job of presenting the motion of historic works.
However, there are some works of dance that require more than good motion and the reenactment of the foot and body work. Some dance requires a specific setting. Some of Grahams works without sculpture would be meaningless. The Green Table requires a table. Singing in the Rain requires a street and water. The performance of these pieces requires these properties so that the motion can be seen as intended. And some dance requires specific lighting. Pioneer modern dancer Loïe Fuller (18621928) constructed a stage with trap doors to the cellar, from where lamp operators could direct lighting from below. Lighting from traditional lamp positions would not present those dances as Fuller intended. The motion may be the same, but the aesthetic impact is not.
And now to the reason for this expositionAlwin Nikolaiss black light ballets wherein the black light effects and not the motion of the dancers are important. I refer specifically to the skulls duet in Gallery. The costume for this work is black capes with small white skulls thereon that glow in the black light. The magic of this work is the illusion of the many tiny, disembodied skulls cavorting in air and not the dancer-mechanism that makes it happen. Seeing the dancers destroys the illusion.
Now I have no doubt that when this ballet was recorded the dancers may have been lit so that the reconstructionist would know just how those skulls were moved. But
someone needed to make note of this fact. The recorder needs to be more thorough in exposition. And he who reproduces needs to understand the aesthetic of the work. And we who were there need to add our voices so that masterworks can maintain their glory for new generations to enjoy.
Ruth E. Grauert, February 2016
|