Notebooks: Reviews

New York Sun, April 4, 2003, Arts & Letters, p. 17

ON DANCE

You’ve got to hand it to the Battery Dance Company. Right now, this small troupe should be presenting its work throughout North Africa and the sub-Sahara. But its touring plans were cut short due to the war in Iraq. On Tuesday night, the troupe gathered itself together and threw a one-night-only performance of pieces that would under normal circumstances have been presented on another continent.

This short program included a preview of a new work titled Notebooks, by artistic director Jonathan Hollander. In this ensemble piece, five dancers move to music composed by Frank Carlberg and inspired by the notebooks of Georges Braque. This piece will be well worth seeing when it officially premiers. The dancers — clad in tight black and white — rise and fall, hit absurd poses, and move together as if fragments just waiting to form a whole. Patterns emerge, only to be broken down into tightly controlled sporadic flights.

Also on the program was The Solo Project, consisting of five solos for five different dancers, each created by Mr. Hollander and the individual dancers. In terms of choreography,Chambered Nautilus, danced by Vance Dugosh, was the leader. The music is Asian percussion that seems to roll around the auditorium, and Mr. Hollander makes his dancer spin around the stage in time. There are many bars of the music that go with little or no movement, which seemed just right.

Solos danced by Ariel Bonilla and Virginie Victoire Mécène were both sublime due to the dancers’ articulate bodies. Both have enormous control and style to spare.Yuko Suzuki gave an expressive performance in Sigh. With her feet on the floor, she draws her knees to her chest with fear and yet also self-provided comfort. Kyla Ernst-Alper’s solo was a bit all over the map, with movement switching from skipping merrily along to breaking down. She seemed better suited to Notebooks, and performed crisply in that work. The Battery Dance Company will next be on stage this summer during the Downtown Dance Festival, where Notebooks will be presented in full. _______________________