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| Photo by Yarden Raz | L-R: Nikki Holck, Madison Krekel, Lynda Senisi, Alexis Convento
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Five Folds of a Fabric
The Current Sessions, Volume 1, Issue 1 fits The Wild Project
By QUINN BATSON
Offoffoff.com
Alexis Convento gets points for bringing five disparate but relatable choreographers together for "The Current Sessions: Volume 1, Issue 1," a newborn dance series at The Wild Project in the East Village.
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| | | THE CURRENT SESSIONS: VOLUME 1 | Choreography by: Allison Jones, Yarden Raz and Genna Baroni, Alexis Convento, Jonathan Royse Windham, Yin Yue.
Dancers: Allison Jones
Yarden Raz and Genna Baroni
Alexis Convento, with Nikki Holck, Madison Krekel and Lynda Senisi
Jonathan Royse Windham and Christopher Ralph
Yin Yue, with Emily Pope-Blackman and Fanny Gombert.
Lighting design by: Mike Inwood.
| | SCHEDULE | The Wild Project
August 8, 2011
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Allison Jones kicks things off with a solid solo that is grist for an extended group piece this fall, titled Hypomaniac! Soft leg circles and undulations pull us into sharp and awkward movements spawned from Gaga. Slow and quick movement and real and fake emotions make a tasty, occasionally confusing, combination that sticks together despite itself. One moment, a possible ending, touches deeply; Jones retreats backwards with gestures of pain as the lights go down. Here it is only a pause before a bright, bright bouncing sequence with softsharp chops, flops and folds, ending as she reaches the floor.
You Drool on Me is a silly, funny duet, also drawn from Gaga, by Yarden Raz and Genna Baroni, both sporting bobbed blond wigs, bright blue tops and black short shorts. Smart musical choices and generally excellent performance choices keep things interesting, with each veering from vampy to goofy and back. Just as things begin to reach a longish lull, both snap back into action for a rousing clubland finale, all fun and bright energy, ending with a short, sharp "Hey!" and a little V-fingered sign of peace and victory from Raz. Lighting by Mike Inwood brings spark to the end section as well.
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| Photo by Yarden Raz | | Allison Jones
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Alexis Convento's Wild Me is a quartet of women in old lady/1940s underwear that seems odd but somehow doesn't detract. All four move in a line forward and back for a bit until yummy, skinny Nikki Holck takes the first of four solos based on "personal past experiences fueled from intensity" and burns it up a bit. Words accompany each solo but don't become fully apparent until nearly the end of this first solo, which ends with "and then it was silent." There is some tension and angst in both the first two solos, with short, powerful Lynda Senisi stamping the second. Madison Krekel takes a fun, saucy spin on her mingling, tingling meeting of a "strong," "cool" drummer boy who leaves her "impressed." And Alexis Convento also conveys a happy time with the narrated refrain "I don't want to leave this place," though her solo, perhaps reflecting that feeling, feels unfinished.
Jonathan Royse Windham says shoot in a duet with Christopher Ralph, about the beginning, and the end, of a relationship between two people. Windham and Ralph move with one mind much of the time, something that is always a pleasure to watch, and both are casually excellent movers. An opening rock-paper-scissors bit with each in opposite entrances at the back of the stage is light and clever, with each smacking the other long-distance via unseen backstage bodies as one or the other wins. These playful, flirting smacks keep the first half happy, and little unison bits pop up to convey the unity when things are all good. "Cool kids belong together" is the lyric that ends this bright beginning. A blackout cuts us to the end, though, which is bleaker and more exhausted but retains much of the humor and smart interplay of the first half, with contact here often leading to one on the floor or across the room, more from misdirection or missed connection than from violence.
And Yin Yue's Babydoll is a striking solo with two other dancers, all three in stark light, stark makeup and stark black clothes against the back wall to begin. There is a strong allusion, intentional or not, to Robert Palmer's 1980s music video for "Addicted to Love," a title that may also fit this piece; there is no joy here. Yue moves well here to "explore the female sexuality in a form of idiosyncratic physicality." Her movement is sleek and sharp and occasionally stunning, as intended. The ending — Yue sitting against the wall looking bored or alluring, standing against the wall, and mingling slightly with the others before walking off — makes little sense but is probably true to her ongoing exploration.
This is how things start. Five choreographers spent six weeks to make pieces for one night. No one missed, and the mix was good. Everything felt a little unfinished but pithy, in the way that good beginnings can, like the first sentence of a book that makes the reader want to continue.
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AUGUST 10, 2011
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