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| The Joyce Theatre in Chelsea; 8th Ave between 19th St & 20th St |
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| Joyce season playbill |
The Joyce is a 472 seat theatre in Chelsea that opened in 1985 with a mission to promote the art of dance. It hosts dance troupes from all over the world, showcasing a wide variety of movement styles and traditions. And in keeping with their philosophy of encouraging a diverse audience and of making the art of dance accessible to the masses, ticket prices for performances range from $10-$35- a steal for NYC, especially considering the professional quality and the artistic merit of the performances. The intimacy of the theatre is such that any seat in the house offers a great view and a rousing experience.
I had the pleasure of seeing a work entitled Botanica by MOMIX, a company of dancer-illusionists that is based in Washington, Connecticut. Director Moses Pendleton presented, through a series of visually stunning vignettes, a journey through spring, summer, winter, and fall. Imaginative choreography, costumes, and lighting alongside mirrors and projections create ethereal illusions. Aside from using Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Pendleton uses an eclectic score to express the rhythms of the seasons including world music, new-age beats, Celtic tunes, and bird songs.
There was a lovely quote from Maurice Maeterlink's The Intelligence of Flowers cited in the playbill, which was perhaps of inspiration to the company:
"The plant strains its whole being in one single plan; to escape above ground from the fatality below; to elude and transgress the dark and weighty law, to free itself, to break the narrow sphere, to invent or invoke wings, to escape as far as possible, to conquer the space wherein fate encloses it, to approach another kingdom, to enter a moving, animated world."
One of my favorite pieces, which is also the piece, in my opinion, most representative of the above quote, was "The Blooming Marigolds." I would love to say that I enjoyed the piece for its metaphorical value or some other astute observation, but the truth is I just loved the bright orange tutus, their movement, and the various incarnations undertaken by them throughout the dance. Shout out to costume designer Phoebe Katzin for the wonderfully whimsical costumes!
I also enjoyed "The Beaded Web," a solo performance in which a female dancer enters onto the stage caged in a silver beaded curtain that fell from her head. But as she began to spin, and as she whirled around and around in various tempos, the curtain took on the form of a web that morphed into striking configurations . It was wild and beautiful.
A preview of the show:
"Met a dancer/ Who was high in a field/ From her movement/ Caught my breath on my way home/ Couldn't stop that spinning force/ I felt in me/ Everything around seemed to giggle glee/ She walked up with a flower and I cared" --Animal Collective, In the Flowers
