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Engaging the Senses
Choreographer Alwin Nikolais’s work is celebrated at the Joyce Theatre
Choreographer Alwin Nikolais directs dancers, 1951.
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Bold colors, curious music, moving geometric shapes, and complex lighting techniques are just some of the elements that contribute to Alwin Nikolais’s choreography. A man known for breaking out of the box to create modern choreography is being celebrated with a tour all over the world that includes a stop at New York City’s Joyce Theatre. The tour is the centennial celebration of his contributions to dance over the last 100 years. Nikolais’s works are not created to tell a story but instead to engage the audience’s imagination and invoke an emotional response. The tour’s artistic director Alberto del Saz believes that one of Nikolais’s talents was the ability to establish a connection with the audience no matter what their previous relationship with dance has been. He says the pieces, “are very accessible; whether an audience member is extremely knowledgeable about dance or it is their first concert both people are going to be touched and that’s why is stays contemporary…they never age.”
Del Saz told Encore that the purpose of this tour is to revive Nikolais’s name and image as well as to make people aware of the weight of his work. Nikolais is a true showman, he not only forms beautiful dances, but he uses different techniques like lighting, costumes, music and props as if they were small pieces of a puzzle needed to construct a new environment for the audience. Del Saz has been with the dance troupe for 27 years, first as a dancer and now as the artistic director. He brings a show to Joyce Theatre that exhibits the range of Nikolais’s work over the years.
The evening commences with a video biography of Nikolais’s achievements to educate the audience of his role in contemporary dance. The performance will include four full original dances and pieces from a fifth that were created over a range of 30 years. The celebratory performance is directed by Alberto del Saz and Murray Louise and performed by the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company. The group will be at the Joyce Theater May 4–9th and tickets can be bought by either calling 212-249-0800 or visiting www.joyce.org.