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With Polish dance, Company E and take a bad hand and find beauty With Polish dance, Company E takes a bad hand and finds beauty
(3 days later)
No one would expect a performance of Polish modern dance to be particularly cheery, so it seemed sadly apropos Wednesday when a local dance ensemble was dealt another blow in its attempt to put on an evening of grim-but-good works tied to the former Communist Bloc country.No one would expect a performance of Polish modern dance to be particularly cheery, so it seemed sadly apropos Wednesday when a local dance ensemble was dealt another blow in its attempt to put on an evening of grim-but-good works tied to the former Communist Bloc country.
Company E was originally scheduled to perform “Generations: Poland” at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater Jan. 22 and 23. Snowzilla and bad luck forced the troupe to rebook for two March evenings in the smaller Family Theater, and then Metro once again shut down. Paul Gordon Emerson, the Company E founder, said that ticket sales abruptly ceased Tuesday when the service stoppage was announced, and 60 patrons with tickets failed to show. That left the theater less than half full, or, more pessimistically, more than half empty.Company E was originally scheduled to perform “Generations: Poland” at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater Jan. 22 and 23. Snowzilla and bad luck forced the troupe to rebook for two March evenings in the smaller Family Theater, and then Metro once again shut down. Paul Gordon Emerson, the Company E founder, said that ticket sales abruptly ceased Tuesday when the service stoppage was announced, and 60 patrons with tickets failed to show. That left the theater less than half full, or, more pessimistically, more than half empty.
The “Generations” program opened with Lidia Los’s absurdist 35-minute work, “Who Let the Dogs Out?” Five dancers stood with drooping heads as the curtain rose, with giant plastic cones snapped around their necks. One by one, they removed the canine collars and lined the cones up like lampshades at the edge of the stage. Other props included child-size chairs, a table, a fly swatter, a typewriter and a rotary phone.The “Generations” program opened with Lidia Los’s absurdist 35-minute work, “Who Let the Dogs Out?” Five dancers stood with drooping heads as the curtain rose, with giant plastic cones snapped around their necks. One by one, they removed the canine collars and lined the cones up like lampshades at the edge of the stage. Other props included child-size chairs, a table, a fly swatter, a typewriter and a rotary phone.
Aesthetically, “Dogs” seemed indebted to Duchamp and choreographer Pina Bausch, whose dancers stumble around a chair-strewn stage in “Cafe Mueller.” Yet Los’s references to the 20th century were hardly nostalgic; the dancers took turns dragging the typewriter across the stage like a ball and chain. Quotidian gestures drove the movement: tugging on imaginary zippers, dialing numbers on the phone. Some of composer Marcin Brycki’s musical selections worked better than others, and Los could have structured the piece better, but she made a case for herself as a Polish choreographer whose work should travel.Aesthetically, “Dogs” seemed indebted to Duchamp and choreographer Pina Bausch, whose dancers stumble around a chair-strewn stage in “Cafe Mueller.” Yet Los’s references to the 20th century were hardly nostalgic; the dancers took turns dragging the typewriter across the stage like a ball and chain. Quotidian gestures drove the movement: tugging on imaginary zippers, dialing numbers on the phone. Some of composer Marcin Brycki’s musical selections worked better than others, and Los could have structured the piece better, but she made a case for herself as a Polish choreographer whose work should travel.
Post-intermission, the company performed an excerpt from Pola Nirenska’s “Dirge,” with Rima Faber reprising the babushka role she originated 25 years ago, when the late D.C.-based choreographer first mounted a sad suite of dances about the Holocaust. Five Company E women in long gray dresses conveyed a loss of innocence, their troubles echoed by the heavy footfalls of Martha Grahamlike movement.Post-intermission, the company performed an excerpt from Pola Nirenska’s “Dirge,” with Rima Faber reprising the babushka role she originated 25 years ago, when the late D.C.-based choreographer first mounted a sad suite of dances about the Holocaust. Five Company E women in long gray dresses conveyed a loss of innocence, their troubles echoed by the heavy footfalls of Martha Grahamlike movement.
Two world premieres followed: “Didi and Gogo,” a virtuosic game of chicken created by the young Polish choreographer Robert Bondara for Company E’s two men, and “Air,” a brief devised piece set to a new arrangement of Henryk Górecki’s “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs.” Gavin Stewart, who also danced in the piece, transformed the second movement into a gorgeous vocalise for soprano soloist and a 10-member children’s choir. The music was far more memorable than the movement, but as the dancers took turns hoisting each other onto stacks of collapsing bodies, it was clear that Polish artists past and present have a knack for finding beauty in bleakness.Two world premieres followed: “Didi and Gogo,” a virtuosic game of chicken created by the young Polish choreographer Robert Bondara for Company E’s two men, and “Air,” a brief devised piece set to a new arrangement of Henryk Górecki’s “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs.” Gavin Stewart, who also danced in the piece, transformed the second movement into a gorgeous vocalise for soprano soloist and a 10-member children’s choir. The music was far more memorable than the movement, but as the dancers took turns hoisting each other onto stacks of collapsing bodies, it was clear that Polish artists past and present have a knack for finding beauty in bleakness.