This was a performance of choreography by and for teen dancers. The 18 dancers (well, 17 actually, one young lady was injured, but her choreography was still part of the show) were introduced via a Prologue performed to live percussion. Percussion featured strongly in the music for the other 11 pieces, as well.
The pieces were contemporary dance, with nods to classical ballet but with more emphasis on theater/street/hip-hop dance. All of the teens performed well, with high energy and a sense of style throughout the entire afternoon. There were several small group dances—two, three, or four dancers—with a couple of larger ensemble pieces, and the final work (excerpts from the Doug Elkins Repertory Project’s Scott Queen of Marys) used all 17 to round out the program.
A couple of the early works were somewhat predictable. Flow (to water sounds) had three dancers, well, flowing onto and off of the stage. And The Chase had three couples chasing each other, with (if I’m remembering correctly) the couples separating and morphing into different couples in the chase.
I especially liked The Kitchen Drawer, where a young lady straightened out a jumble of six dancers and got them lined up as two forks, two spoons, and two knives. Of course, they were quite happy to jumble themselves again and taunt and thwart her from time to time. Very enjoyable.
On a slightly more somber note, Justice Dream, in the printed program, but announced from the stage as Waiting for Change, recounted the death of Trayvon Martin. When the lights came up again after a brief blackout, there were five or six teens all wearing red hoodies. As the hoodies were removed one by one, we saw a fellow in jacket and tie, a couple of girls in nice, sensible dresses, another fellow in casual but nice clothes, and finally a teen in a T-shirt that read STUDENT BODY LEADER. These teens raised Trayvon and carried him offstage and this was followed by a keening duet representing, at least to me, Trayvon’s parents. It was an effective piece.
This five-week, intensive enrichment program for NYC high school students produced a fun afternoon of high-energy choreography and performances. All told, there have been and will be nine performances (I’m not sure if all performances have all the works that I saw), including a Gala Final Concert and Reception at Ailey Citigroup Theater on Saturday evening, Aug. 3. Congratulations to all!
ConcertMeister
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