The Alchemy and Effort of Restaging Dance

Program

Symposium: The Alchemy and Effort of Restaging Dance

March 5-6 and March 12-13, 2021
Hosted by NYU’s Gallatin School and Wesleyan University
VIA ZOOM
Conveners: Julie Malnig, Lise Friedman, Patricia Beaman, and Seán Curran

Week One – March 5-6
Symposium: The Alchemy and Effort of Restaging Dance 

Please note: Each panel and spotlight will include 15 minutes at the end to allow participants to respond to audience questions. This program is subject to change.

March 5, Friday Afternoon/Evening
5:00 pm Welcome: Julie Malnig
5:15-7:00 pm Linking Past to Present to Future: Why Does It Matter?
Moderator: Celia Ipiotis; Panelists: Diana Byer, Michael Novak, Stephen Petronio, and Sylvia Waters
(Link to the film If the Dancer Dances provided to attendees)
March 6, Saturday Late Morning/Afternoon
10:00 am Welcome: Patricia Beaman
10:00-10:45 am Spotlight: Illuminating Legacies of Black Dance Artists
Donald Byrd in conversation with Theresa Ruth Howard
11:00 am-12:45 pm Reconstruction And Representation
Moderator: Lynn Garafola; Panelists: Carolyn Adams, Phil Chan, Hari Krishnan, Susan Gluck Pappajohn, and Adam Sklute
12:45-2:30 pm Break (If the Dancer Dances will screen from 1-2:30 pm; link will be provided)
2:30-3:15 pm Conversation: If the Dancer Dances (2018) 
Stephen Petronio Company restages Merce Cunningham’s RainForest
Lise Friedman, Maia Wechsler, and Gino Grenek in conversation with Wendy Perron
3:15-3:30 pm Break
3:30-4:15 pm Spotlight: Merce Cunningham’s Scramble (1967)
Diana Byer in conversation with Gus Solomons jr
Excerpt from New York Theatre Ballet’s restaging, and footage from 498 3rd Avenue, a film by Klaus Wildenhahn (1967). © NDR. Choreography © the Merce Cunningham Trust, all rights reserved.
4:15-4:30 pm Wrap Up: Michael Dinwiddie

 

Week Two – March 12-13

Symposium: The Alchemy and Effort of Restaging Dance 

Please note: Each panel will include 15 minutes at the end to allow panelists to respond to audience questions. This program is subject to change.

March 12, Friday Afternoon/Evening
5:00 pm Welcome: Seán Curran
5:00-5:15 pm Keynote Address: Deborah Jowitt
5:30-6:45 pm Permission Granted: Navigating Economics And Licensing
Moderator: Ken Tabachnick; Panelists: Kim Bears-Bailey, Janet Eilber, Jonas Klabin, Patricia Lent, and Michael Trusnovec
March 13, Saturday Morning/Afternoon
10:00 am Welcome: Lise Friedman
10:00-10:45 am Spotlight: The Uses of Distress: Making and Remaking
Skating Rink Costumes (choreographer, Jean Börlin, 1922)
Millicent Hodson and Kenneth Archer
10:45 am-12:30 pm Being In The Room: Stagers, Dancers, Choreographers
Moderator: Nancy Dalva; Panelist Pairings: Pat Catterson and Yvonne Rainer; Gino Grenek and Rashaun Mitchell; Seán Curran and Janet Wong; Lauren Lovette and Jean-Pierre Frohlich
12:30-2:00 pm Break
2:00-4:00 pm Performances. A look at several performances followed by a discussion  about what it’s like to re-stage them

Moderator: Alastair Macaulay

Chaconne (1942) 
Choreographer: José Limón
Performers: José Limón, Kristen Foote
Hologram: Esther Siddiquie
Editor: Justin Luchter; original footage by Ted Shawn  
Music: Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004 by J.S. Bach
Instrumentalist: Alberto Bologni
Premiere: December 27, 1942 at the Humphrey-Weidman Studio Theater, New York, New York, by José Limón
Commentator: Esther M. Siddiquie

Light Rain (pas de deux), (1981) 
Choreographer: Gerald Arpino
Music: Douglas Adams and Russ Gauthier
Costumes: A. Christina Giannini
Original Lighting: Thomas Skelton
Dancers: Valerie Madonia and Daniel Baudendistel
World Premiere: The Joffrey Ballet, November 1981, City Center, New York, New York; later performed by The Joffrey Ballet at the New York State Theater, 1994
Presented by arrangement with The Gerald Arpino Foundation

Light Rain (pas de deux), (2021)
Mariah Heley-Wright and Guillermo Rios
Staging: Nicole Duffy Robertson
In rehearsal with Nicole Duffy Robertson, New York Dance Project
Courtesy of New York Dance Project
Commentator: Nicole Duffy Robertson

Goldberg Variations (2017)
Based on The Goldberg Variations by J.S. Bach
Improvised by Steve Paxton (1986–92)
Choreographer: Steve Paxton
Music: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, Variations 16–23, by J.S. Bach
Performed by: Glenn Gould
Courtesy of Sony Classical, by arrangement with Sony Music Licensing
Performed by: Nicholas Sciscione
Commentator: Stephen Petronio

Come to Me (2019)
Performer/Choreographer: Hari Krishnan
Music and Musicians: Davesh Soneji (Nattuvangam), Vaaraki Wijayaraj (Vocals), Kajan Pararasasegaram (Mridangam), and Mithuran Manogaran (Violin)
Composition: K.P. Kittappa Pillai
Costume/Visual Design: Rex (Rajavairan Rajendran)
Commentator: Seán Curran

An Eccentric Beauty, Revisited  (1972)
Choreographer: James Waring
Music: Erik Satie, La belle excentrique
Staging:  Diana Byer
Dancer: Mayu Oguri
Costumes: Sylvia Taalsohn Nolan after Leon Bakst
Musicians: Michael Scales and Geert Ruelens, piano
Handyman: Mitchell Kilby
Premiere: 1972, the Cubiculo, NYC; New York Theatre Ballet at Florence Gould Hall, March 2013
Video:  Dancing Camera
Commentator: Leslie Satin

Swingin’ The Miles (from And Still You Must Swing) (2019)
Reimaged work originally titled “Joshua,” an Excerpt from Going The Miles (2016)
Choreographer: Jason Samuels Smith
Improvographers:  Jason Samuels Smith, Dormeshia, and Derick K. Grant
Music: Allison Miller and Dormeshia, in collaboration with dancers and musicians
Musical Direction: Carmen Staaf
Musicians: Winard Harper (Drums), Carmen Staaf (Piano), Noah Garabedian (Bass), Gabriel Roxbury (Percussion)
Production/Company Manager: Elka Samuels Smith/Divine Rhythm Productions
Producer: Divine Rhythm Productions
TD/Sound Engineer/Flooring: Rich Saccoliti/Event Systems & Design Inc.
Costume Designer: Javier Pedroza
Lighting Design: Rich Saccoliti/Event Systems & Design Inc. in collaboration with Sue Samuels/Divine Rhythm Productions
Commentator: Sally Sommer
4:00-4:30 pm Questions from the audience
4:30-4:45 pm Closing Remarks, Michael Dinwiddie
4:45-5:00 pm Conveners Farewell

 

Co-hosts

NYU Gallatin, Wesleyan University’s Arts and Humanities, The Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, Wesleyan Dance

Sponsors

GIBNEY, The Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU, NYU Institute of Performing Arts, NYU Tisch Departments of Open Arts and Performance Studies, NYU Steinhardt Dance Education

Special Thanks

Susanne Wofford, Linda Wheeler-Reiss, James Devitt, Theresa Anderson, Rachel Plutzer, Aaron Cedolia, Jenny Kijowski, Jennifer Birge, Michael John Wess, KC Trommer, Justin Luchter, Aviya Hernstadt, Polly Jacobs, Emilia Litwak, Roger Grant, Katja Kolcio, Hari Krishnan, Michele Olerud, Merce Cunningham Trust, José Limón Dance Foundation, New York Theatre Ballet, New York Dance Project, Stephen Petronio Company, The Gerald Arpino Foundation, Kristen Foote, Elka Samuels Smith, and to all of our participants.