What I saw on my stroll today

[scuffedboots]

(This is an email I wrote to a friend about my walk today. Somehow it turned into a jazz and modern dance review. It's long. It might be boring. But it's what I saw today. You can click on the TinyURL to see a Google Pedomap - it's 8 miles through Harlem and the Upper West side with a stop for a jazz festival and a modern dance performance.)



Just got back from today's stroll. It was a pretty good one. Covered some ground. 8 miles. Check it out:
http://tinyurl.com/8w5sh

Took the A train to 145, backtracked to the Hudson to cover the extent of 145 (my destination was East on 145, but I thought I would finish the street by covering the western portion.) Headed back East and south 20 blocks on Lenox Ave/Malcolm X Blvd, with a small detour down one block of East 141 st. for a street fair. Got to 125 st, the heart of Harlem, walked east one block and then south a block to Marcus Garvey Park where today is day one of the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival. Caught the set of the Odean Pope Saxophone Choir. Good stuff. Great, actually. Interesting without being overly cerebral. Engaging, but also just challenging enough. And packing a pretty good wallop when all eight or so saxophones are cranking away. Checking out the paper between tunes reminded me of the Jose Limon Dance Company later at 8 PM.

What I know about dance wouldn't fill a thimble, but these guys are supposed to be one of the best dance companies in the country and have been for years. The paper said they had "Powerful movements" and that they have become "one of the most influential forces in the contemporary dance world" Well, it WAS a good 70 or so blocks away, so I would be covering some ground, and I really love Lincoln Center, so....after the Sax Choir wrapped up, including a crazy saxophone conga line through the crowd that had everyone on their feet, I caught a couple songs of the next act and set out for the Upper West Side and checking out Jose Limon Dance.

The other cool part of this walk is that I would get to finish the Upper West Side part of Amsterdam Ave. I left myself 1.5 hours to get across town and then 60 blocks south, and I might have made it, except I stopped at Brother Jimmy's for a strawberry margarita and a BBQ sandwich along the way. I made it to Lincoln Center to catch just about the second half of the four dance show. It's outside in the Lincoln Center bandshell and I was pretty far back. But it was a cool thing to check out. In addition to liking being at Lincoln Center for any reason, these free summer shows they have each year are just great, with a cool vibe.

The dance show was pretty good. The second 'headline' piece was set to a Mozart concerto (review copped from an older performance, reviewed in the Village Voice)

"...Lar Lubovitch's Concerto Six Twenty-Two seems like a gift from heaven. Mozart! Wonderfully musical dancing! The unfolding and interlocking space patterns seem, in this context, to reference Limón and his mentor, Doris Humphrey. The robust, bounding, scampering elation creates the image of an angelic community at play. Kurt Douglas is a standout. So are the trio passages for D'Orléans Juste, Ruvalcaba, and Alter. Riedel and Scott perform the famous, often excerpted adagio duet, which, despite occasional strained moments, remains a beautiful and moving expression of male tenderness. The piece suits the company to perfection."

and from an older NY Times review:

"Lar Lubovitch's ''Concerto Six Twenty-Two,'' staged by Leonard Meek, is essentially a visualization of the Mozart Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra. Mr. Lubovitch sees joyous play in the music, and that is the mood of most of the piece, which unfolds in circles of 11 dancers who break to race and cluster informally about the stage. Hands link. Bodies tumble through the air in complex partnering that suggests, as do the patterns, that this is rigorously plotted joy.

The dancers skip and jog with giddiness that occasionally slips into mugging. Ms. Foote is an enchanting goof, and Mr. Douglas and Ms. Kudo soar surprisingly high in their little jumps. Watching it all, you think that this is exactly what you would do in your kitchen to this particular music if only you could dance.

But embedded in the piece is a lyrical male duet that has become an anthem of sorts in the gay rights movement. The duet, danced with just the right lack of sentimentality by Mr. Riedel and Mr. Scott, can be seen simply as an interesting approach to male partnering. The tone is companionable rather than romantic. But the yearning melody of the adagio suggests more. Sadly, the issues the dance seems to address have not become outdated.
''Concerto Six Twenty-Two'' ends the evening on a jubilant note. The program will be repeated on Sunday, Wednesday and next Friday through Oct. 3 at the Joyce (175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street in Chelsea)."



I don't always know what I'm looking at in dance performances, even when I know the 'story' of the dance. But the gay vibe was hard to miss in the second movement of the Mozart. The rest of the piece was a lot of really cool big ensemble modern dance stuff. Exuberant hopping around, cool acrobatics, joyous ensemble movements. The dancers wore very summery creamy white, with the guys in what looked like light colored khakis and white t-shirts and the women in white swirly 50's looking dresses. The whole thing looked like a big Gap ad, though with a lot better music (obviously) and a LOT better dancing. (OK, So I'll never review dance for the Times, but I think you can get the vibe.)

I think I'm going to check out this Jose Limon Dance again. In the fall there is this thing at City Center where, for a week, 5 or 6 dance companies each night do a performance. Tickets are 10 bucks/night. It's kind of a demo, get people into dance kind of thing. It ain't my bag, but I'm always interested in checking out great art of any type, and the price is right. Jose Limon Dance is on the schedule one of the nights and if I can score a ticket, I'm there.

Anyway, then I grabbed a Mr Softie for the walk to the subway, and the A train back home.

I did about a third more mileage today than either day last weekend. My feet and knees don't hurt the way they did before. I had three long breaks throughout the walk and that may be why I don't feel it so much. I'm certain I'm in no better shape then I was last weekend. But it's good to lay down the miles and not be hurting so much when I finish.

Dunno how this turned into a music and dance review, but that's what I saw on my walk today!

later.

[reinhard]

Dunno how this turned into a music and dance review, but that's what I saw on my walk today!

That's precisely why walking is the best exercise. You're never going to get a music and dance review on the stationary bike or the nautilus machine.

You make me homesick, I grew up on the upper west side.

Looking forward to more homesickness from you,

Reinhard