What threatened to be “a year-long Festival of the Feet” when it was announced in March turned out better than we’d feared. For the most part.
With some exceptions.
This version of our comprehensive season wrap is verifiably our last word on ADF Season 2008. With 1,100 more words than the story in our print edition (including our views on Meredith Monk, Maguy Marin, the Japanese Festival and Acts to Follow), this report has all the juicy stuff we couldn’t cram onto the pages of this week’s copy of the Independent Weekly.
Buy the ticket — click on “more” — and read the verdicts (in this and the next two posts). Then leave your reactions in Comments, below. As always, your replies won’t appear immediately, since we have to screen for spam. But all legitimate responses will be posted.
“While three choreographers lured us into their dystopias last week,” writes critic Byron Woods, “one—Aydin Teker’s aKabi—was so overtly like [Kurt] Vonnegut['s work] that the title of a specific short story came to mind in the middle of the performance.”
Could this possibly be a good sign? Read on to find out: the pre-publication of the dance review from this week’s Independent Weekly follows.
“In a career of dystopic performances that have let audiences examine the suffering of humans and nature on an almost frame-by-frame basis, this one was a stand-out. Call it a strangely blighted rite of spring, an implacable fertility ritual which revealed the grotesquery of dehumanized sex; ultimately, a work which conceivably dared to ask if rape is actually the default sexual act in the animal kingdom.
Wait—you’ll need the catalog number if you want to see it: ADF Video 1984.0013, at DukeUniversity’s Lilly Library. Why? In the final analysis, the considerably kinder, gentler version of Grain we saw last week at the American Dance Festival had too little in common with the harrowing original version Eiko and Koma staged here 13 years ago.”
Eiko, the female half of the Eiko and Koma partnership, said last night after their performance, “We pride ourselves in being able to provide, if not the same look, then the same quality of work” to everyone.
“I like to play with this idea of providing the same quality no matter the price [of the ticket],” she continued. Adhering to this philosophy, Eiko and Koma simplify the logistics of their dances as much as possible. In addition to choreographing, directing, and dancing all their pieces of the last thirty years (the premiere exception being their presentation of “Grain” this year), Eiko and Koma have often designed and executed their own sets, costumes, and sound scores. The immense success of their work allows them the luxury of sharing their work for free, regularly performing at outside venues, and providing entire videos of their pieces on their website. Continue reading »
Lisa Creech Bledsoe on "Notes from IgniteRaleigh: To be a spark, and not to be rickrolled": "Speed dating for the tech set," funny! Nice write up of an incredible event. I'm voting for Scrubby next year. Scrub-by, Scrub-by, Scrub-by!
Lisa aka @glowbird (the boxing chick)
DK on "Notes from IgniteRaleigh: To be a spark, and not to be rickrolled": Just moved back to the Triangle from Seattle, which is where Ignite started. It kind of caught on and blew up really fast, and organizers had to keep upping the venue.
I think people have been looking for this kind of cabaret for a while. They like going somewhere and being a crowd together, and it's
Christine Fawley on "Notes from IgniteRaleigh: To be a spark, and not to be rickrolled": A fabulous night highlighting the diversity of talent and intellectual pursuits here in the Triangle. An event like this could be held every month and still barely scratch the surface of the passions of our community.
We were honored to be included and appreciated the support and enthusiasm of the crowd as we delivered "20
For the most part.
