PIFOF: Deborah Colker, In the Tunnel, What’s That?

Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts has been a great megaphone for political/social causes, certainly the best way to express sentiments in today’s politically combustible society. Three recent examples:

Deborah Colker Dance Company (Brazil). The first thing that comes to mind about Brazil is the environment, the Amazon River. This was Dance With a Vision. A giant black-and-white screen projected a dry lake bed, the burning of the forests, trees reduced to bare limbs. The dancers, some of them in the film, appeared to gather the vocabulary from those surroundings, be inspired by them. The dance began with creatures, seemingly caked in mud and moving with a heavy, low-slung weight. Gender wasn’t always apparent. Nor was race. What kind of dance was it? Then three women appeared en pointe, exotic birds of a feather. The dancers went on to manipulate giant cages reminiscent of river shanties, giving it more of a sculptural quality, and ended with the face of an indigenous tribesman, his own face caked with mud, but this perhaps by his own choice. Colker is currently in great demand as a choreographer (she was director and choreographer for Cirque du Soleil’s insect-inspired Ovo)  — it was easy to see why). After the performance, the dancers showed up for a Latino dance party at the Cabaret. They were all tiny, not the muscular performers that commanded the stage. But they did a mean, smoothly mesmerizing samba, seemingly capable of transforming themselves into anything dance.

In the Tunnel/Gesher Theater /(Israel). The August Wilson Center was host, so appropriately, to political protest in many forms for the premiere of In the Tunnel. This Israeli production spawned a Palestinian demonstration at the front entrance. (When the cast emerged to offer them seats to the performance, they declined.) Inside were art exhibits addressing Familiar Boundaries, Infinite Possibilities. The centerpiece was Flying Girls, which filled a room of its own with an emotional homage to Nigerian girls and birds and butterflies. It hit you in the guts as it inspired you. So did In the Tunnel. The Israelis left nothing to the imagination. Four soldiers — two Israeli, two Pakestinian — were trapped in a tunnel in the midst of their never-ending conflict. Above them, on a two-tiered set, were a morning television show and the above-ground political developments. It was an important way to view the way the U.S. pop culture was viewed by others and a lens into the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, certainly a method to underscore PIFOF’s cultural and social importance.

What’s That? (Ukraine). This was a Ukrainian interpretation of punk rock, with saxophone, cello, accordion and percussion. It was reminiscent of Lena Dunham’s television series, Girls, an exponential view of the considerable angst found in our ’20’s. The energy was palpable and appreciated, but the musical expertise was not, with out-of-tune instruments played by theatrical actors who assumed that any semblance of technique could be denied in a production. Loved the graffiti-like projections, although the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Education Center was not the ideal forum for the bold design, breaking it into shards that rendered them less important.

PIFOF: Mrs. Krishnan, Gab Squad, Blind Cinema

Previous editions of Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts provided a mystical maze that delved into the latest developments in global performance — all decidedly adult. This year there was a deliberate effort to include children’s and family entertainment, perhaps to lure a wider audience to some of the best artists In the world. Like:

Mrs. Krishnan’s Party (New Zealand). Perhaps the title was misleading. And James, who escorted us to our seats had an undeniable New Zealand accent. Mrs. Krishnan herself was pure Indian, sometimes over-the-top, but a New Zealander as well. No matter. This was an Indian story at its big heart, filled with traditions, history and, yes, food. In fact actors Kalyani Nagarajan and Justin Rogers really cook up a meal, ostensibly for the partygoers (us), but members of the audience frequently did the cooking, set the table and more. And the children — too delightful, you couldn’t have asked for better — passed out balloons and laughed contagiously. This was about as immersive as you can get with a live performance. In fact, when James asked an audience member to reveal a secret, she hesitated because she had become so involved. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Gab Squad. Gab Bonesso, local comedien and, as it turned out, bullying expert, came up with this program, an extension of her school talk. So Gab was a veteran, capable of dealing with middle/high school, such a tricky age for the arts. She began with a monologue, her audience mostly neutral or, in some cases, resistant. And when she started interacting — there’s that trending word — she settled on one girl who had an interest in Harry Potter. The connection was made. But when Gab began to encourage the students to dance, there was some awkward hesitation. Suddenly the Harry Potter fan jumped up, face bright, the awkwardness disappearing as she began dancing. One by one the students joined in, moving and grooving on the drums as well. It was heart-warming and, I’m sure, transformative. And that’s what the arts are all about.

Blind Cinema. I went to the movies. Just don’t ask me the title. Because I went to the Blind Cinema. Yes, I was blindfolded. Just suffice it to say that it was a magical experience, children whispering what they were seeing in little megaphones, like fairy dust on the ear. It’s funny how your other senses take up the slack, a way of brief understanding about some people who do that every day.

PIFOF: Cirque Éloize Hotel

 

 

Pittsburgh has become a favorite stomping ground for Cirque du Soleil and I have to admit that I have seen virtually everything the venerable Montreal troupe has to offer.

So as I took my seat at the Benedum Center for the PIFOF world premiere of Hotel, I wondered what else this other Montreal circus troupe, Cirque Éloize, could do to impress.

There was much to tickle my fancy.

Montreal has become a hotbed of circus arts and fostered a number of artists and troupes that tour the globe. Soleil is the most famous through their immersive tent shows, Las Vegas productions and the arena performances.

But Hotel showed that the Montreal cirque community has a lot of depth and varying personalities, probably fed by Canada’s National Circus School located there. Hotel was a show that took place in a stylized, Art Deco-inspired lobby, where guests and staffers used the extra long reservation desk, a curvilinear sofa and a geometric backdrop (two triangles with a cube wedged between) as an entertainment playground.

We’ve also seen several stage performances, most notably with the Pittsburgh Symphony. Cirque Éloize doesn’t have razzle dazzle body-enhancing glittering painted costumes (save for a “celebrity” who came and went and surprisingly did not contribute much). Instead the focus was on timing — to the millisecond.

For this was a three ring circus condensed onto a proscenium stage. At times there were multiple acts and stunts overlapping each other — audience members had their pick of performers sliding behind the desk, a head popping out of the sofa or elevated performers peeking from behind the wings.

When the spotlight was on a single act, there were jaw-dropping routines that had a healthy, imaginative dose of choreographed connections. They literally provided twists and turns that kept my interest — the rope girl, almost a tomboy, who tied herself in knots, a juggling act full of invention, human stacks. And they created their own house band.

This Hotel lobby and its inhabitants became an oversized jungle gym, a fun house for all and someplace that I’d like to visit again.

 

 

 

 

PIFOF: Manifold

We see plenty of ballet onstage at the Benedum Center, mostly from Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, but we’ve never seen a ballet (of sorts) projected onto the facade of the former movie palace.

Then came Manifold. There it was — an eight-minute example of projection mapping by Filip Roca and set to an original score by Chinese composer Wang Lu.

In a deft touch that only the Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts can bring, an orchestra comprised of Pittsburgh musicians led by conductor David Nesta Curtis, brought it all to life.

This was updated Tchaikovsky in a way, packed with waltzes, adagios and sweeping symphonic sounds that closely inspired the ever-changing Benedum patterns as they crawled and swirled across the architecture in response to the music.

The next time we will hear Tchaikovsky will be at Christmas, of course, with the annual production of the Nutcracker.

 

 

PIFOF: Beyond

It’s the signature face of the Festival of Firsts, a tunnel-like structure that sits in a parking lot across Penn Avenue from the Benedum center. Unlike a tunnel, it’s rather transparent, but ringed with lights that have a computer masterminding their dazzling patterns and music.

This immersive experience is relatively short — 5-6 minutes — but you’ll find Beyond a combination of the space age vibe found in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and the funky aura of a disco ballroom, which might inspire you to move and groove. The above video is just a sampling — events like this are always better in person. And although the Downtown setting is rather bright at night, it’s still an impressive happening.

To avoid unnecessary waiting, the Cultural Trust wants you to reserve your time of entry (a free ticket) online. Click on Beyond!

 

Dance Beat: An Exciting Dance Fall (Part I)

The fall has a special place in dance. Not the season upon us, but the purposeful way of quickly changing levels and embracing the floor. However, Fall 2018 may truly become a singularly memorable time in Pittsburgh dance. Various organizations in the dance community have put together fascinating prospects or, in one instance, have gone above and beyond in fashioning a season.

That would be…

Point Park University. The raves are already in for this knockout dance season, worthy of any professional company. The Conservatory of Dance will properly christen the new PNC Theatre in the Pittsburgh Playhouse Downtown Dec. 7-16 with a stellar line-up that includes international choreographic stars like Nacho Duato and Aszure Barton, plus Ballet Met artistic director and former New York City Ballet soloist Edwaard Liang and Tyce Diorio, known from Do You Think You Can Dance. The season will conclude Apr. 18-21, 2019 with established names like Pittsburgh native Kyle Abraham and ballet superstar Christopher Wheeldon, plus Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre favorite Dwight Rhoden of Complexions and Uri Sands, former principal dancer at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and now an artistic director of Minneapolis’ heralded TU Dance. The Contemporary Choreographers this year at the George Rowland White Performance Studio Oct. 11-Oct. 14 will include Christopher Huggins, Point Park professor Mark Burrell and rising talents Jae Man Too and Peter Chu. Home-grown talents take to the stage with plenty of new works from Faculty Dance Concert (GRWPS, Feb. 21-Feb. 24) and the Student Choreography Project I (GRWPS, Nov. 16-18) and Student Choreography Project II (GRWPS, Apr. 5-7). Tickets: Playhouse.

Yabin Wang Dance

Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts. One of my favorite events, a time when the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust assembles international, national and regional premieres. In fact, some of the bigger cities around will follow the ‘Burgh’s lead. Joan Didion’s THE WHITE ALBUM goes on to be part of Brooklyn Academy of Music’s (BAM) Next Wave Festival. And Deborah Colker Dance (Brazil) will appear at Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. following its performance here. It will reveal Downtown Pittsburgh as it’s never been seen before. Explore the inner recesses of Trinity Cathedral in Quantum Theatre’s Chatterton or the Cirque Éloize Hotel (Montreal). Political satire permeates In the Tunnel (Israel) and patriotic passion infuses Cri Des Nago (Haiti). There are family-friendly events like Androcles and the Lion (Denmark) with hammocks instead of seats and the interactive Gab Squad (U.S.). Visit 5 Downtown galleries like Wood Street’s Nonotak or the geeky whimsy of Machine Culture at SPACE, all free. Also take in the mapping of the Benedum Center in Manifold with an original score or let lights wash over you in Beyond, near the Benedum. Pittsburgh should feel like the center of the artistic universe. Check it all out by clicking on PIFOF!

Deborah Colker Dance

Pittsburgh Dance Council. Deborah Colker Dance, so in demand right now (Byham Theater, Oct. 13), and Yabin Wang Dance are part of both the PIFOF and PDC series. Wang, considered China’s own superstar choreographer, will present the North American premiere of Moon Dance (Byham, Nov. 2). Notice the prominence of women choreographers, which will continue with lyric beauty of Jessica Lange Dance (Byham, Jan. 26) and red-hot Camille A. Brown & Dancers (August Wilson Center, Mar. 9-10). The sentimental favorite might be Paul Taylor Dance Company, though, a Pittsburgh native who went on to make his mark on modern dance and recently passed away (Byham, Feb. 23). And the ever popular Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo promises to end on a high note (Byham, Apr. 13). Click on Pittsburgh Dance Council.

 

Cynthia Oliver

Kelly Strayhorn Theater. KST celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, a real achievement for this vital community and visionary organization. It will unwind this signature season, supported by the prestigious Bloomberg Philanthropies, with resident company Phillippine-American Performing Arts in Halo-Halo (Sept. 22) and Cynthia Oliver’s evening-length dance theater work, Virago-Man Dem, which”navigates stereotypes, rumors and half-truths that surround black masculinities” (Sept. 28-29). Choreographer and dancer Trevor Miles joins with visual artist and VJ Julie Mallis for a FRESHWORKS RESIDENCY dealing with the opiod crisis Dec. 7 at KST’s Alloy Studios.  While hosting the Annual National Performance and Visual Arts Network Conference, KST will present Pittsburgh: Live on Stage (Dec. 14-15) with STAYCEE PEARL dance project, Bill Shannon, Angwenique Wingfield, Afro Yacqui Music Collective, slowdanger and Blak App M.A.D.U.S.A.  Particularly exciting, even in the face of all that came before, is the always thought-provoking  David Rousséve in the premiere of REALITY :: Halfway to Dawn (Feb. 1-2). Click on KST.

Mozart in Motion – Amanda Cochrane and Yoshiaki Nakano.

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. PBT opens on an elegant note with Mozart in Motion, featuring works by ballet masters George Balanchine and Jiri Kylian (Benedum, Oct. 26-28). It brings back a new Jorden Morris production of The Great Gatsby (Benedum, Feb. 8-17), which the company presented twice, the original 1987 production and, keeping the Peter Farmer’s scenery and costumes, again in 2008. Could the third time be a charm? And then it’s another encore, this one with Dance Theatre of Harlem at the August Wilson Center (Mar. 15-24). The companies elevate the partnership by performing together in Stanton Welch’s Orange. Of course there is the annual Nutcracker (Benedum, Nov. 30-Dec. 27) and a season-ending Sleeping Beauty (Benedum, May 10-12). Click on PBT.

Attack Theatre. Once again, the Attackers are on the move with a It begins with the art of making dance in Some Assembly Required (Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, Sept. 22 and Braddock Public Library, Sept. 23). Nothing is ever done the same way twice, including The Down and Dirty Dance Party at the Hall at Spirit (Nov. 2) underneath an immersive light installation by Ian Brill and pop-up performances throughout the night. Well, maybe In Defense of Gravity, which the company revisits Nov. 29-Dec. 1 at the Pittsburgh Opera. But then comes the New Hazlett Theater for the premiere of The Rube Goldberg Variations (Apr. 25-27). For more, click on Attack.

More coming…

On Stage: Festival Watch — Kiss & Cry

Their hands touched.

For her, that was the last time it was daylight…

Our hands are generally regarded as the most expressive part of the body. And the fingers certainly did the walking and more in Charleroi Danses’ heart-warming Kiss & Cry, a self-described “nano” dance and the next installment of the not-to-be-missed Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts.

In scientific terms, “nano” means “billionth.” In artistic terms it also meant the smallest of the small, where a story was told in Lilliputian terms, but with a profound effect.

Thomas Gunzig’s wonderful text (here translated from French) centered around Giselle, a name balletically so appropriate for this dance through life. She is an older woman who is looking back on the cumulative effect of her five loves. Much of her story is told in miniature, with numerous little figurines, so individually and lovingly created, perhaps the people in the peripheries of her past. They were placed on about a half-dozen tables with changing tableaux, the open space of the New Hazlett Theater.

The tableaux included a train (loved how the station sign read Pittsburgh!), a circus trapeze act, snow scenes, a desert — all about a life internalized.

But the five loves themselves were interpreted by close-ups of eloquent hands, inspired by Giselle’s first romantic encounter on a train, where she brushed against a teenaged boy. The encounter changed her life forever, and her future loves were compared, not through the usual physicality or personality, but by their hands, which could still say so much.

At first we were hardly aware of the man and woman who so eloquently provided their appendages for the camera. Using their fingers and palms, it was choreography reduced (to an atmospheric score), but where we could still see arabesques and attitudes, beating one finger nervously against another (shades of “Swan Lake”).

There was a tango. A pas de deux. A sexual act. And a dark humor to it all that hung like a mist.

Despite the minimalism, it all played out, larger than life, on a big screen. So the audience could choose, eitherthe fantasy on the screen or the reality, where we saw 10 “performers” manipulating the many delicate scene changes and how one of the cameras moved silently on curving track of its own, panning in and out and through with its own fluid grace.

It was like observing the internal workings of a fine Swiss watch.

And when this most intimate, sensual journey came to an end, it returned to the source — a man and a woman completely touching, embracing.

Sublime.

On Stage: Just Ducky!

But it’s not the bathtub-sized bird of Rubber Ducky fame. This is Studio Florentijn Hofman’s The Rubber Duck, four stories high (about 40 feet) and it will open the third Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts.

This installment will run four weeks (Sept. 27 – Oct. 26, 2013) and will include an international array of theater, dance, music, performance and visual artists in performances never seen before in the United States.

The Rubber Duck has already created a craze in Hong Kong, with people leaving work to see the colossal-sized fowl up close and personal. It’s “the 14th or 15th international city,” according to the Netherlands artist. But despite numerous American fans and overtures from cities like Baltimore, Detroit and Los Angeles, the winning nod went to Pittsburgh, which will harbor this fine-feathered friend for three weeks, mooring it between PNC Park and Heinz Field, where it could garner national attention during a Steeler game. It will open the Festival with a huge outdoor party from an adjacent bridge.

Compagnie Marie Chouinard

The Cultural Trust, along with Pittsburgh Dance Council, had already announced Montreal’s Compagnie Marie Chouinard in a premiere of GYMNOPÉDIES, set to Erik Satie’s iconic pieces (Byham Theater, Sept. 28) and Swiss artists Zimmermann & de Perrot, a “mischievous marriage of theater, circus and dance” (Byham, Oct. 18-19).

The rest of the list embraces all of the artistic senses, beginning with Michèle Anne De Mey & Jaco Van Dormael of Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, who will let their fingers do the walking in Kiss & Cry, which tells the story of an older woman recounting her greatest loves ((New Hazlett Theater, Oct. 2-4).

Robin Frohardt’s THE PIGEONING, features Frank, an obsessive compulsive man with set routines. Bunraku puppetry, music and video populate this darkly comedic work. He is the first American, a Brooklinite, to be featured here (Bricolage, Oct. 9, 10 and 12).

Australia’s Perth Theatre Company brings It’s Dark Outside. It explores Alzheimer’s and Sundowner’s Syndrome through puppetry, mask, animation, live performance and an original music score by award-winning composer Rachael Dease (Peirce Studio, Trust Education Center, Oct. 9, 10 and 12).

New Yorkers Christopher McElroen and T. Ryder Smith bring Measure Back, an interactive war event devised nightly for an intimate audience. Sure to be sold out (Baum Building, Fifth Floor, Oct. 22-26).

The God That Comes

From Canada’s 2b theatre company comes sex, wine and rock ‘n roll. Hawksley Workman (love that name!) brings a one-man cabaret recreating the story of Bacchus (yes, from Euripides’ The Bacchae) (Cabaret at Theater Square, Oct. 24-26).

Also on view will be several Kurt Hentschlager’s 3D-animated audiovisual installations, using choreographed motion, light and sound. They include Hive (Wood Street Galleries, Sept. 27-Dec. 31), Granular Syntheses: Model 5 & POL (SPACE, Sept. 27-Oct. 20)and an encore presentation of Zee (934 Liberty Avenue, Sept. 26-Oct. 27).

FYI: At the first Festival in 2004, we had groups such as Germany Theatre Titanick, England’s lone twin, Spain’s Cesc Gelabert, Akhe Group from Russia and Teatre Rozmaitosci from Poland. In 2008, the Festival featured Spain’s Theater of the Senses, Slovenia’s Ballet Maribor, British performance artist Paul Reder, alto sax player Rudresh Mahanthappa, Dutch-based Kassys in Liga and Norway’s Jo Stromgren in The Department,  and Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips’ collaboration with The Warhol, 13 Most Beautiful.

In 2004, there were plenty of empty seats, but by 2008, most performances were sold out. Don’t miss it — a great opportunity to catch a real slice of what is new and exciting in the world of visual and performing arts!

Tickets for all performances are $25. — trustarts.org/first, 412-456-6666, Box Office at Theater Square. The Hentschlager exhibits are free.