Jonelle Seitz's Top 10 Thrills (No Frills) in Dance of 2017
A thread of starkness and clarity ran through the year's most memorable movement
By Jonelle Seitz, Fri., Dec. 29, 2017
Through these varied dances, I saw a thread of starkness and clarity. In alphabetical order:
1) "8 CLEAR PLACES" (Erick Hawkins Dance Company presented by Shay Ishii Dance Company) Earthy modernism, clear lines. Animal instincts, stonelike aplomb.
2) 11:11 (Jennifer Sherburn and Natalie George Productions) Nine quick-fire, layered performances in as many months (in almost as many venues).
3) BODY RITUALS (Aztlan Dance Company) On process and practice. Hammering heels and, floating above them, depths of soul.
4) GLACIER (Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company) A farewell of sorts. The slipperiness of loss and ice without politics.
5) LAS CUATRO ESTACIONES: A STORY OF HUMAN TREES (Sharon Marroquín) Juxtapositions of starkness and fullness, busyness and stillness in lessons on letting go.
6) LOOSE GRAVEL (Frank Wo/Men Collective) Clever irreverence and languid, thoughtful duets. No heat (on the coldest night of the year!).
7) MEETING (Antony Hamilton & Alisdair Macindoe/Fusebox Festival) Simple scaled to obsession through clockwork precision, multiplication, and permutation.
8) MOMENTUM (Dance Repertory Theatre, UT Dept. of Theatre & Dance) Drive, focus, power, and endurance from Generation Z.
9) "OVERSEAS PHONE CALL, 1987" (Magdalena Jarkowiec, with Performa/Dance) Layers of heartache brought on by the strains of communication across distance.
10) POTENTIAL (line upon line percussion with choreography by Rosalyn Nasky/Fusebox Festival) Movement and sound scaled smallish against a vast landscape. Perspective, openness, barriers.
