After the overwhelming success of last summer’s presentation, the Gotham Arts Exchange returned to The Joyce Theater with the Gotham Dance Festival. Running through June 12, the Gotham Dance Festival presented six programs featuring ten choreographers - a who's who of North American modern dance, per say. The festival included the works of Brian Brooks, Monica Bill Barnes and Patrick Corbin to name a few. I had the honor of checking out the “Summer Sampler Matinee” on June 11. This particular program focused specifically on emerging choreographers. On the 11th, I saw the works of Ashleigh Leite, Julian Barnett and Sydney Skybetter.
The “Summer Sampler Matinee” delivered on the promise of its title. It provided you with a sneak peak at what's new and exciting in North American modern dance. Each choreographer brought his or her individual qualities to the table, so it made for a varied and interesting sixty minutes. Leite played with synchronization (excellently I may add). At some point, her cast moved as one fluid moving body, making for an impressive sight. Julian Barnett opted to experiment with sound. Specifically, he played with sound produced by the dancer live. Unfortunately, he had too much going on. Between the sound, props and costumes, I felt that his concept was really hard to follow. This particular piece I felt would have faired better if Barnett stuck with one focal point and went with it. Sydney Skybetter closed out the night, interweaving high concept and classical influences in not one but two pieces. From the dances to the costumes to the lights, Skybetter was the only choreographer to create a fully flushed out conceptual piece. They were exciting to watch.
I will never understand why the Joyce insists on starting performances over the traditional five-minute grace period or why their scene changes are insufferably long. (What scenery are they moving? It's a modern dance show.) However, these technical quirks did nothing to take away from the flow of the show or the works of the choreographers. Although I didn’t jive with every choreographer, each still brought something visually interesting to his or her work. That was undeniable.
I believe that the Gotham Arts Exchange is one of the few unknown dance gems of the city. If you missed the Gotham Dance Festival this year, there is still plenty on their artistic calendar for the year. Check out their upcoming work at www.gothamarts.org.
