Tag: Slow Dancing

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PORTRAITS IN DRAMATIC TIME on Lincoln Center Plaza

Here are some photos I took of David Michalek’s current installation, Portraits in Dramatic Time, shown nightly on the facade of the Koch Theater at Lincoln Center Plaza. Above is (SLSG favorite) ballerina Alessandra Ferri, apparently in the ending scene from Romeo and Juliet. Commissioned for the Lincoln Center Festival, Portraits is similar to Michalek’s earlier installation from a few summers ago, Slow Dancing, which I wrote about here.

Unlike Slow Dancing, the only two dancers (at least that I’ve seen) in Portraits are Ferri and classical Indian dancer, Savitry Nair, above. To me, Nair was the most mesmerizing, I think because of the intricate (and to me exotic) movements she was making with her hands, but also because of the intensity of her eyes. Patti Lupone (below) was a close second.

Besides the two dancers and one diva, the others seemed to be all theater actors. Like, Slow Dancing, Michalek filmed the actors in a short scene, then slowed the movement way way down for greater dramatic effect. At least that was the intent. I’ve only watched a couple times, and plan to go more, but, as with Slow Dancing, I have mixed feelings. I think Portraits may be able to attract a larger audience than Slow Dancing due to the greater fame of the stars filmed, and Michalek did for the most part choose dramatic scenes, such as the one below of Alan Rickman throwing a glass of water in anger.

Not all of the scenes are quite as action-packed. You’re often looking more at the intricate changes in facial muscles as the actors go from one emotion to the next. I felt like watching Marianne Jean-Baptiste read a letter and Lili Taylor converse with her daughter provided real lessons in acting.

But in other scenes, even if there was some kind of drama, I didn’t always understand what it was about, or the characters’ relation to one another, and consequently I failed to be as captivated by the mini narrative as I would have liked.

Watching and listening to others on the Plaza, I felt like I wasn’t alone in that thought. The big screen captures your attention but oftentimes fails to keep it. Of course I really wanted to shout at people who were only glancing at Alessandra before passing!

I said this with Slow Dancing, and I’m pretty sure these films are moving faster than the original Dancing films, but I still think they’re going just a bit too slowly. It would also provide variety to rotate more between performer-types – like dancer, actor, diva, dancer, actor diva, etc. But as I said, I saw mostly actors here. I also noticed, though, that there are many performers listed on the show’s website that I didn’t see, and I’ve gone on two different nights so far and have seen many repeats, so I don’t know if all of the listed performers are appearing right now…

Anyway, imperfections aside, it’s always wonderful to have something to go to Lincoln Center for and now that ballet season is over, it can be depressing around there. So I’m very thankful for this installation. Perfect for summertime, sitting near the fountain or at the little cafe in front of Avery Fisher Hall, sipping wine or eating Gelato. This is the best part of living in NYC, imo.

Portraits shows nightly through the end of July. For more info, go here and here.

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WHY ARE OUTDOOR CROWDS SO MUCH MORE RESPECTFUL OF THE OPERA THAN DANCE?

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For the past few evenings I’ve been partaking of the Met Opera’s outdoor Summer HD Festival on Lincoln Center Plaza. The first night I went was Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes. It was on a week night and the plaza was about half full. I’d bought a sack pique-nique dinner from Bar Boulud across the street — which was delic by the way (chilled gazpacho soup, baguette of brie and fresh fig spread, waffle chips, bittersweet chocolate tart, and bottle of Pellegrino). But when I took a seat in the back and began to unwrap my brown bag I realized what a commotion I was making, how dead silent it was. I waited until a noisy helicopter buzzed around above us for a few seconds to tear into my sandwich. I absolutely loved the quiet, but figured it must be because this opera was so serious and esoteric — only true opera-manes would go.

But then last night, Puccini’s far more popular La Boheme was the same. Plaza was packed. I mean, every single seat was taken (both of the fold-out variety set up by the event organizers and make-shift seats like construction cones aligning Avery Fisher Hall), there was hardly a square foot of ground to stand on all the way to the street — people were even camped out atop the temporary Koch Theater ticket trailer (until police came around telling them to get down). But once the music began, there was the same dead silence. Everyone stared up and the screen, completely captivated. It was even quiet around the food and liquor stands, where people were basically whispering their orders. Children (the few that were there) behaved, dogs (the many that were there) behaved. Well, dogs usually behave in a crowd, actually… But even the little kids seemed to know it was important to try to concentrate on the screens.

The noisiest part of the evening was when South Pacific, showing next door at the Vivian Beaumont, let out. But once the theater-goers realized there was something important going on out on the Plaza, they shushed each other and ventured up to watch — in total silence — as well.

Such a complete contrast with some of the outdoor dance festivals — Lincoln Center Out of Doors, the Downtown Dance Festival, site-specific summertime events, sometimes SummerStage. I’ve heard from several people now that the Saratoga Performing Arts Center where NYCBallet has their summer season, is much the same, making me honestly not all that excited to go up there. I mean, kids are running around, parents yelling, people talking to their friends at the same pitch as if they were in a noisy bar, people unwrapping food, opening soda cans, popping gum.

So what gives? Do people just think opera is mainly about music and so to enjoy it everyone must be able to hear it above all else, whereas dance is more visual — so you can make all the noise want and not bother people because they can still see? Maybe it’s about the children — people are much less inclined to bring small kids to the opera, but they somehow think their two-year-old is going to have a deep appreciation of Balanchine or Karole Armitage or classical Indian dance. Maybe they equate outdoor dance performances with outdoor social dance events like Midsummer Night’s Swing, where you’re hardly going to disturb social dancers by talking. Or maybe there’s something about a big ole screen being up there.

I wonder if it would be different if ABT would have a summer HD festival and show outdoor broadcasts of some of the spring season’s ballets. Probably not… although the crowds were pretty quiet for the David Michalek Slow Dancing exhibit two years ago (once Midsummer Night Swing ended anyway)…

Anyway, tonight (Saturday) is Mark Morris’s Orfeo ed Euridice. I mean Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice but Morris produced and choreographed. We’ll see how it goes when there’s some dance involved… The Met outdoor HD festival continues through Monday night, ending with Anthony Minghella’s production of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly.