One-Man Shows

...On Dance ONE-MAN SHOWS by robert greskovic the dance world, a program composed entirely of a single individual's work is rather unusual But when one is presented it offers audiences a rare chance to concentrate on a choreographer's craft at close range, without distractions, reliefs or contrasts The results are always revealing The grouped pieces of a major creative mind provide a revelation about the breadth of his art, in the case of a lesser talent, they expose the limits of the artist Merce Cunningham belongs in the first category, as the recent two-week season of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company decidedly showed The repertory, consisting of 14 different Merce pieces, including four never seen before in New York, was the most ambitious display of his choreography in my memory Moreover, his latest ensemble—numbering 15 dancers—is not only his largest but also one of his strongest, and this deepened already deep feelings of fascination and admiration for his oeuvre Each of the dances having their local premiere exhibited a different virtue of Cunningham's original theater Inlets—a collaboration with John Cage and Mori is Graves tor the Cornish Institute in Seattle—is heavily atmospheric Charles Atlas' lighting bathes the stage—a front scrim is down throughout the performance—in twilight gold and shadowy mists that correspond with the uneven greys or Grayes' leotards and tights A huge shiny, silver disc traverses the upstage space while lighting changes give highnoon brightness and total eclipse darkness at isolated moments Cage's score —mostly gurgling and trickling water sounds—climaxes m one long-winded blast into a conch shell The dance design keeps Cunningham fairly separate from the other dancers' gently loping and grand sweeping steps and jumps, as he travels m shuffling or high-stepping determined phrases These buoyant, unforced sets of action contain moments of soaring flight when, intermittently, four or five dancers get drawn into a circling lineup of turning jumps Contrasting with the follow-the-leader grands maneges are thematic poses that freeze the dancers in upright stances, gazing skyward, as if mutely baying the moon Fractions, created for video, is a group effort for eight (Cunningham does not appear) Set to a flute composition, scored and played by Jon Gibson, the piece is exquisitely honed Mark Lancaster's bright, pastel uni-tards (that eventually get layered-over with either tights or leotards) match the value of rectangular panels that are lowered into the background to lend the work a mid-morning sunniness The dances respond to this tone The complex solo and group movements are based on academic combinations that seem to come directly from master classes and are executed with the effortless attack of masterpupils Particularly arresting is an adagio duet for Robert Kovrtch and Karole Armitage —two of the company's most accomplished and gorgeous performers Kovrtch beautifully curls his limbs around some of Armitage's sky-reaching arabesque poses, and together they perform a dance that gently unfolds toward its climax A final ensemble move has the full cast alternately pausing in phase with Gibson's silences, and executing phrases independent ot the music Exchange, a world premiere with a score bv David Tudor and lighting and design by Jasper Johns, utilizes the whole company The dancers wear unitards of shaded greys that eventually blur into single color In the harsh atmosphere ot Tudor s machine sounds...

...Or is it that Feld's one-man show is really a one-note tune already played out...

...Cunningham (wearing a sweatsuit version of everyone else's tights) starts a dance for the men and then initiates another for the women From there, the work keeps you enthralled with progressions, regressions and the unpredictable When Cunningham lets a dancer execute what an earlier dancer performed, for instance, it is always with some twist of variation designed to prevent the puzzle from being a trick Thus there are elements of replacement and reinforcement in the many exchanges that take place Even the sweat pants that only Cunningham has on in the beginning become the uniform acquired by the other dancers as they reenter the dance (By the end they're only wearing tights again ) The plan is fascinating, and so subtle that several viewings are necessary to fully appreciate exactly what Cunningham is up to The final new offering is a solo for Cunningham called Tango Accompanied by a vocal score of Cage's (gut-teral sounds and slurps—of coffee —into a mike) and with a set by Lancaster (featuring a television sitting off to the side playing whatever is on), Tango is a typical Merce-menzing articulation Dressed in yellow sweatpants and sweater (also by Lancaster), Cunningham reaches, shuffles, hops, and bends in at least three directions simultaneously For part of the dance he holds a bit of blue fabric and passes it from hand to hand with distinct timing and mysterious intent Following a series of soubresaut hops, done while he shoves one fist into the waist of his pants and throws punches in the air with the other, he ends frozen m a pose with one arm hanging in the air after he's slipped it into the sleeve of a raincoat One comes away from the Cunningham program as a whole with a memory of a complete, unusual world, where movement is both carefully studied and disarmingly practical, and where pattern is satisfyingly unpredictable In combining these peculiarities, the choreographer pays homage to the convoluted beats of everyday life Whereas the one-man show of a Merce Cunningham draws the audience into a marvelously personal vision, the one-man experience given by Eliot Feld leaves the viewer feeling he has attended a one-note concert In his capacity as figurehead of the Feld Ballet, he has been involved in a rare enterprise the last few years performances of his own work exclusively There were periods when the company repertory included selections from other dancemakers, but those years are past Now Feld apparently believes that the 30 ballets he has created in the last 10 years are of sufficient variety to justify all-Feld programs What was clear about Feld the choreographer in the beginning (he started at the American Ballet Theater) was his musicianhness and his especially original approach to partnering His first years with his hand-picked company extended and explored those talents Since 1974, however, Feld has been a resident of Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival complex, and has mostly been restricted to the tight, unpleasant confines of the downtown Newman Theater The change from opera house scale, and probably other debilitating factors and frustrations, have turned Feld in a different direction Lacking elaborate facilities (and I suppose funds) for "live" music, he has had to settle for taped music or else for small chamber or solo instrumental accompaniment Correspondingly, his recent work seems either air-tight canned or force-'em-to-pay attention cabaret His two newest dances are no exception Danzon Cubano (to Aaron Cope-land) tries to showcase one of Feld's more prominent young male dancers, Edmund LaFosse But after LaFosse has swiveled his hips, bumped his pelvis and jutted his butt to the Caribbean rhythms of Copeland's driven score, we see little development, the beachcomber, with three similarly undulating native women, just keeps on churning Willa Kim's revealing costumes —LaFosse's skin-tight clamdiggers are partly split up the side and the female chorus wears scanty sarongs—are meant, I'd guess, to add the nuance Feld's uninventive dance fails to provide Half-Time, an ensemble work for a cast of 19, is set to Morton Gould's suite of patriotic Americana called "Formations " It is a "stars and bars" affair, ranging from macho athlete posturings to peekaboo pompom girl parading Most of the dance is obvious and uneventful, and little of the wit is sharp In a baton-twirling number (for Helen Douglas) called "Twirling Tango," it is impossible to tell whether the ineptitude should be blamed on Feld's design or on Douglas' personal lack of coordination with a baton Kim's costumes again are relentlessly revealing —the girls' short shorts and tank tops are completely split up the side with netting holding it all together Feld got started on his Americana toot a few seasons ago when he exploited Mikhail Baryshmkov in a flag-waving, saluting pas de deux that featured the stellar Russian grabbing two handfuls of his own butt for the audience's pleasure It was the most cynical view Feld ever gave of a dancer, and his recent work has generally shown that same obvious desperation and sourness Or is it fatigue...