Matt Hanson - Page 4

At spring, people return from the wintered isolation of their respective family nuclei and form one whole organism, made up of all the parts that sustain a community.

She awoke, as in the womb, floating through a numinous, fluid-suffused air. As to thread the very fabric of reality, musician and composer Hideki Kato synthesized textural sonar frequencies.

Juilliard Dances Repertory artistic director Lawrence Rhodes fused together an evocative evening, a masterful juxtaposition of opposites, ruminating on the perennial themes of tradition and modernity through dance.

Martha Graham, the first dancer to perform at the White House, who received the United States' highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom at the Bicentennial, is peerless in her affirmation of an authentic American lexicon, as through the ineffable beauty of the human body in movement.

To capture the American idiom through an art form demands brazen courage, and a rare will dedicated to a lifetime of unapologetic originality. Paul Taylor is one of the few artists alive to tell the tale under a spotlight of unparalleled renown.

Merce Cunningham is still one of the most challenging artists the United States has ever produced.

On the first evening of Flagstad: Triumph and Tragedy, Scandinavia House warmed in the presence of Norwegian actress Nina Bendiksen.

Juan Michael Porter II introduced Evidence: the baldwin suite with a truly majestic eloquence, his face radiant with pride as he intoned the name James Baldwin.

The animate mastery of Adam Barruch thrilled and silenced audiences at the 92Y Harkness Dance Festival.

Without missing a beat, Havana Rakatan exploded onto the Midtown soundscape with a supercharged magnificence.

American Dance Theater is one of the most ingenious innovations of New York and African-American arts. Through a glass facade, downstairs from the larger-than-life iconic photograph of Alvin Ailey, choreographer Iquail Shaheed opened his arms to a warm audience at Ailey Citigroup Theater on the evening of Valentine's Day.

In the heart of the wildly characterful Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, the Joyce Theater marquee entrances with a retro ambiance. Opening in 1982, the Joyce Theater has come to represent the magnanimous foundations of modern performing arts in New York. None so embodies this history as authentically as choreographer and dancer Doug Varone.

Before anyone spoke, before song and the invention of instruments, there was movement. From the ground up, the human form awoke to the sound of the heart. From that moment until today, performance arts have flourished.

In a quaint studio theater at 74th Street and Broadway, Steps Beyond hosted a legendary affair, likened to the historic backdrop that inspired The Look of Feeling. Gaudy uptown apartments spilled light into the stripped down set as artistic director Bradley Shelver greeted guests with palms clasped, smiling genuinely. The intimate air was as welcoming as a friend hosting new guests.

Enlighteningly mystical, compelled by the bleary-eyed madness of religious conviction, the deeply personal and moving testaments to the mysteries of the inner life were embodied magically throughout Great Britten. From the American premiere of Rejoice in the Lamb to Illuminations, the early 20th century music of Benjamin Britten unfolded as a touching four-part series of spiritual devotion and the loftiest of loves.

At the 92nd Street YMHA, the air was welcoming, even communal, an environment where poets and weightlifters share space amid the world-famous Jewish institution. On October 17th an enthusiastic audience gathered in from the chill fall winds, warmed up and revivified by a multigenerational creativity spanning various cultural and artistic traditions. Voices of Bulgaria and America could not have been a more ideal exhibition.

Reflections (2013) opened the evening with the evocative drift of piano compositions by David Lang, performed live by Andrew Zolinsky. The choreography by Benjamin Millepied bloomed as the act of making love, one seamless movement of relationship founded on unity. With themes of interdependence and individuality, the mutual inspiration of the dancers rose with originality and performance. The qualities breathed with the innate tendencies of relationship, common throughout various forms of art as the multifarious expressions of love.

Uruguayan tango pianist Polly Ferman invited a warm audience to her neighborhood of Washington Heights for the second night of the “Shall We Tango?” festival, titled Viva Piazzolla, a special concert featuring virtuosic violinist Eddy Marcano. Through her charismatic eloquence, Ferman introduced the six-piece ensemble, including double bassist José Puentes, accordionist and violinist José “Pepe” Saglimbeni, percussionist Yilmer Vivas, maracas player and guitarist Manuel Rangel, and pianist Dino Dinelli.

After one hundred years, Anibal Troilo is remembered ever so fondly as the late Argentinean master musician. He lived from 1914-1975, though his music continues to enlighten as delicately and pointedly as the sound of a trilling bandoneón. In his honor, over thirty performing artists have gathered to ask audiences in New York a question, deceptive in its simplicity, though incredibly sophisticated: “Shall We Tango?”

From its outset, Mix-Tape: The Z-Sides invited viewers to contemplate the ageless, creative form of dance, stunningly engaged in multidisciplinary juxtaposition.