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| | Photo by Julie Lemberger | | | Jacquie Dumas and Nathan Trice in Bottom of a Kiss Floating
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Bottom of a Kiss Floating
Disruption in a Gentle Otherworld
By QUINN BATSON
Offoffoff.com
Occasionally a dance piece comes along that rearranges the viewer's expectations of what is possible, and "Bottom of a Kiss Floating" feels like that piece. As part of the Harkness 92nd Street Y dance series, Nathan Trice showed three pieces in a solid evening at Ailey Theater, with "...Kiss..." opening the show.
In a dark otherworld of globe-headed beings where things move slowly but beautifully, a kiss by two bold enough to remove their globe helmets seems to disturb the world of the others. The atmosphere created by an abstracted, mostly black video backdrop and a soundtrack of well-chosen music is soft and hypnotic but also dynamic and dramatic. The video, by Marilys Ernst, is a wonderfully successful dance backdrop, undistracting yet intriguing. Hollow booms in darkness and other sonic choices feed the submerged, floating feeling of the title as well. The choreography builds from achingly slow to faster and harder, with some solid connections but many reaching and falling missed connections. This is a piece worth seeing more than once. Though it is listed as a work-in-progress, there are currently six sections that feel complete in themselves.
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| NATHANTRICE/RITUALS | Choreography by: Nathan Trice.
Dancers: Nigel Campbell, Jacquie Dumas, Julia Kobceva, Ernesto Mancebo, Akiko Morita, Damani Pompey, Jennifer Roit, Ebony Ruffin, Ryoji Sasamoto, Ellenore P. Scott, Marc C. Spaulding, Nathan Trice, Stephen J. Williams, Alia K.C. Zachary.
Music by: William Catanzaro, Bjork, Alexandre Desplat, Alvin Hill, Keith Jarrett, Christopher Lancaster, Nathan Trice, XXeXX.
Costumes by: Hoppie L. Burrows, Nathan Trice, Rachel Jones, Wendy Yang.
Lighting design by: Stuart Nelson.
Video: Marilys Ernst.
| | SCHEDULE | Nathantrice/RITUALS
Ailey Theater
February 27-March 2, 2008
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A second piece, "Tactics", had a much more mundane feel, with strong but unexceptional dancing and circling, repeated movement patterns. Visually, Julia Kobceva's tall and dramatic presence worked best. This piece felt less complete and more in-progess than "...Kiss..."
The final piece, "Conversations", is full of what Trice does well, sexy duets and physical conversations, playful and largely friendly connections, men facing women and gently waggling the women's hips, women flinging a leg around men's necks. Several RITUALS dancers are really exceptional, especially the strong and fluid Ryoji Sasamoto and Trice himself.
"Bottom of a Kiss Floating" is a totally intriguing piece of choreography that feels like an evening by itself. With the more straightforward, active pieces presented, it gives a satisfying variety of concept and performance.
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APRIL 21, 2008
OFFOFFOFF.COM • THE GUIDE TO ALTERNATIVE NEW YORK
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