Decadance...An Evening of Work by Ohad Naharin presented by Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet Company
Yes, there will be the inevitable play on the word "GAGA" - Ohad Naharin's freedom-loving dance technique. All right, I'll say it. The viewer is also "Gaga" over the ingenuity and vitality of this outpouring of choreography that is by far one of the most thrilling evenings of dance to be seen in New York this season. Much credit is due the director of Cedar Lake, Benoit-Swan Pouffer, for inviting Naharin to come to New York, establish a three-month residence, and teach "Gaga," to the dancers first-hand.
It is the mission of Cedar Lake to focus on emerging American choreographers and to present lesser-known international artists, providing space, funding, and exposure to new audiences. How smart of the Cedar Lake people to choose the Israeli-born Naharin who came for three months prior to performance and trained these beautiful ballet dancers to "let go," cover the mirrors, and uncover their inhibitions: while trusting their bodies to perform what will come from the soul. And indeed, they did just that with compelling grace and conviction. Focus on the beauty of Acacia Schachte and the energy and line of Jon Bond and Oscar Ramos, standouts in a group of standouts.
"Decadance" is a full-evening work that seamlessly pieces together many of Naharin's repertory works. Some had been seen before in various New York spaces. For this performance excerpts been sorted out with deliberate thought and framed in the new streamlined Cedar Lake Theater, an exposed brick vast rectangle that warms the senses with the smell of new "everything." The piece lunges out over the footlights in a breathless performance that seems to attack the viewer like an accusing sermon.
Cedar Lake Theater is a luxurious space with a floor that resounds the stomping anger of the dancers feet as they land in some uncommon positions. (Oh those knees!) They can push off this amazing floor into the space above bound only by the banks of exposed ceiling lights. The dancers soar, they romp, they roll, they fall mercilessly on the knees, and one is constantly wondering if by chance an EMS attendant is on call in the audience. There exists the thought that if one blinks, a divine moment or an amazing thrust of the body will be lost. There are so many splendid dancers to watch, and Naharin repeats phrases giving us a chance to do just that. Often the phrases, spoken or danced, go back and forth so many times one is tempted to say "all right already!" But then there is that unexpected twist, the lunge to the left instead of the right, and one understands the "why" of his thinking. His repetition can wear you out, but not allow you to contemplate an escape. No matter how many times a phrase is repeated, you are riveted to every move.
The evening opens as the lights go up on the dancers spread across the stage staring at us for what seems to be an interminable time. Their expressions are blank, ours are questioning. "Get on with it," we want to say as one dancer finally breaks out into a montage of uncontrollable motion, arms and legs flailing, head rocking from side to side, torso convulsing. This is "Gaga" not ballet, not Graham, not jazz - just the body free of constraints. Who cares what you look like? They cannot see themselves. The mirror is neither friend nor foe anymore. The dancers break line and with fists clenched and arms raised they rage at the space around them, then quickly return to formation. Naharin seems to rage a lot in his work, perhaps as a creative artist living in the fragile political environment of Israel, perched within the insecurity of a country eternally at war, he has good reason. He is a survivor of both the precarious climate of his country and the premature death of his wife, dancer Mari Kajawara. He has much to question. Even in one section where phony smiles are pasted on the dancers faces, and the hips swivel with the weight changes from side to side, and the index fingers point precariously in the air, and the music is rhythmically danceable, but one does not believe for a millisecond there is contentment or gaiety coming over the footlights. But Naharin's questioning has led him into creating art.
The Cedar Lake dancers are a group on the rise with a full season beginning in the fall with premieres by Crystal Pite, Jo Stromgren, and a restaging of Angelin Preljocaj's "Annonciation." Hopefully new seasons will include more Naharin as well since the dancers have spent a long time mastering "Gaga," and it is a fascinating technique. A request; can a future season also include a repeat performance of Decadance for those New Yorkers who had the misfortune of missing this one?