Last night Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet invited dance bloggers to a preview of their new installation, which means you, the patron, walk around the area watching the dancers. Cedar Lake’s large garage space in Chelsea is ideal for this kind of dance, which takes place in various parts of the around and choose what to focus on, although, for the most part, there’s only one dance taking place at once so the choreographer has already kind of led you to home in on a particular aspect of the performance. This is a contrast to the company’s last installation piece, in which there was a great deal going on at once, and you had to choose what to watch. The dancers make good, full use the space and will interact a bit with the patrons, weaving in and around you during the performance. It’s nice because you can get pretty close to the dancers, so, unlike sitting in the balcony or a high ring at a huge opera house, you have a more close, personal connection to the dance. Plus, the music is very percussive and rhythmic and makes you want to dance yourself! It’s a very interesting experience, and unlike typical concert dance.
Tickets are $10 and the 45-minute performance runs April 24-26 and May 1-3 with performances at 8 and 9 each night. Go here for more information, as well as some cool videos of the piece.
It’s nice of Cedar Lake to do this — host these little parties for bloggers. I wish other companies would do the same, or at least have a little social after the performance where you can stand around with a glass of wine chatting with your friends about what you just saw. A few of us went out afterward and we were talking about how dance is inherently social; the way most performances are structured, you have very little time to chat with your companions. Intermissions are short — just long enough to go to the bathroom — and then everything shuts down right after the last curtain call. But it prolongs and enriches your dance experience to be able to talk about the performance. Anyway, thank you to Cedar Lake for a nice show and a good time 🙂
By the way, here’s Tony Schultz from the Winger, sporting a great new hairstyle! I’m always ribbing him about how different he looks from his Winger headshot. Hehehe, people don’t even recognize him in public!
For more detailed write-ups of the evening, see Philip‘s and Evan‘s blogs.
I loved the juxtaposition of the dancers performing against the still photos of themselves in the same segments of the piece.
Your photo of Tony doesn’t do him justice, though…
Yeah, I loved that part too! I know, my camera takes very grainy pictures with the flash off…
That’s great that you guys were allowed to take pictures. I’m amazed at how modern Cedar Lake seems to be, and how accomodating to the online generation. It definitely generates buzz – I’ve never lived in NY, but even I know about them! Otherwise I don’t think I ever would have.