© Tony Powell. Molissa Fenley
Mass Balance. Choreographed and danced by Molissa Fenley. photo © Tony Powell
September 15 and 17, 2009
Venue: Judson Church, 8pm
Location: 55 Washington Square South, New York City
Program: Ice, Dew, Food, Crew, Ape, music by Alvin Curran and poem, STEP, written and performed live by Bob Holman
Mass Balance, music by Cenk Ergun, prop by Todd Richmond
Cosmati Variations 1-4, music by John Cage
Performed by Kristina Berger, Molissa Fenley, Wanjiru Kamuyu, Katie McGreevy, Cassie Mey, Elisabetta Minutoli, Paz Tanjuaquio and Alyssa Lee Wilmot.
Ice, Dew, Food, Crew, Ape – the New York premiere of a work performed twice: once as set to a score by Alvin Curran and then again danced with STEP a poem written and performed live by Bob Holman.
Ice, Dew, Food, Crew, Ape. Choreography by Molissa Fenley. Photo by Tony Powell
Ice, Dew, Food, Crew, Ape. Choreography by Molissa Fenley. Photo by Tony Powell
This work was created while Fenley was in residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, February 2009. Alvin Curran’s score was created by his recording the sounds of the Nantucket ship horn against the sound of John Cage’s voice reciting the five monosyllabic words of Curran’s title.
© Tony Powell. Bob Holman
Bob Holman, also in residence at the ACA, watched rehearsals of the work underway, taking notes of phrases said during the choreographic process, directions taken, relationships expressed, movement described. These notes were then translated into the poetic form that is Holman’s work.
Ice, Dew, Food, Crew, Ape. Choreography by Molissa Fenley. Photo by Tony Powell
Standing in the middle of the stage and surrounded by the dancers moving through the choreography, Holman is sometimes in close proximity to the dancers, sometimes encircled as the dancers continue through their spatial constructions.
Mass Balance – music by Cenk Ergun, prop by Todd Richmond (NY premiere). A solo for Fenley, the work marks the beginning of a new investigation of dances made using a prop designed or suggested by a visual artist.
Mass Balance. Choreographed and danced by Molissa Fenley. photo © Tony Powell
Mass Balance. Choreographed and danced by Molissa Fenley. photo © Tony Powell
Fenley carries a 10-foot wooden dowel throughout the piece, experimenting with images of balance and weight. “Mass Balance” refers to the difference between the accumulation of snow and the ablation of ice of glaciers. Yearly measurements have shown a disequilibrium caused by global climate change.
Cosmati Variations are a series of works that Fenley choreographed while in residence at the American Academy in Rome, February-August, 2008.
Cosmati Variations. Choreography by Molissa Fenley. Photo by Tony Powell
Each variation is inspired by an aspect(s) of the 11th Century Cosmatesque mosaic pavements present in many of the basilicas and churches in Rome.
The inspirations are in terms of design: T-square and serpentine eyelets; in terms of measurement: movements or spatial travel that require three feet; in terms of ardor: demand of execution and in terms of form: triangles nested within squares.
© Tony Powell. Kristina Berger
© Tony Powell. Robert Swinston
Like this:
Like Loading...
The dinner that was thrown at the Tysons Corner location November 20th, in honor of the collection, was just as luxurious as the stones being offered. 
