SPOLETO BUZZ BLOG

Spoeaking of poetry (see previous post), on Friday I finally made it to the Charleston Ballet Theatre Brown Bag & Ballet program I’d missed earlier in the week — the one featuring Jill Bahr’s very cool work “Poetry with a Spash of Red Blood,” set to the music of Philip Glass from his score to the 1985 James Schrader film Mishima. (See my earlier post on this ballet here.)

There were two other works on the program, in addition to “Poetry”: Bahr’s “Captured Angel” and Toussaint’s “Sovenance,” both of which I enjoyed, with Jennifer Balcerzak giving a standout performance in each. But I was there to see “Poetry”; I’d first seen it something like eight or nine years ago, when CBT performed it at the Sottile Theatre. It was my first experience with the music of Philip Glass, and without getting too heavy or anything, it was a transformative experience for me. The short 12 or 13-minute noirish work is set to several of Glass’ songs from his Mishima score, but the one that anchors it is “Runaway Horses (Poetry Written With a Splash of Blood),” a beautiful work for string quartet and harp that ends with a startling scresendo of Glass’ trademark minimalism and overlapping harmonics, while a row of nooses have decended from the ceiling at the rear of the stage behind the dancers. It’s really, really, really cool, and it’s only in Program I of Brown Bag and Ballet at CBT.

Over at Charleston Ballet Theatre, Jill Eathorne Bahr and her company of dancers are presenting several programs, which includes CBT’s traditional Brown Bag and Ballet series. Program I of that series (June 3, 9, and 11) includes a favorite of mine from Jill, her very cool ‘Poetry With a Splash of Red Blood,’ based loosely on the poetry of Ykio Mishima and danced to the music of Philip Glass — a song entitled ‘Runaway Horses (Poetry Written With a Splash of Blood),’ from Glass’ score to writer/director James Schrader’s excellent 1985 film Mishima. Listen to a sample of the song here.

Bahr tells a great story about a time several years ago when Glass was in town for Spoleto (with a work in that year’s program) and late P&C overview critic Robert Jones, who was a longtime friend of Glass’, insisted he hustle over to CBT’s studio where Bahr and co. treated him to a private performance of ‘Poetry With a Splash of Red Blood,’ which by all accounts he very much enjoyed. (There’s a lot more to the story, but I’ll let Jill tell you.)


I missed the first presentation of Program I in CBT’s Brown Bag & Ballet series earlier this week, but I hope to be able to swing by for the next one on Friday. Here’s a couple of pictures from the show. Seriously, you should check it out.

Eliza Ingle on tap sensation Savion Glover’s Improvography:

Savion Glover is an electric performer whose energy and skill translate into a highly entertaining show. For the first part of the evening, Glover is joined by four great jazz jazz musicians: Tommy James, Brian Grice, Patience Higgins and Andy McCloud. As each musician entered, a dialog between dancer and instrument ensued until at last the dancer became an instrument himself. Glover is a sound machine producing intricate rhythms that come from his remarkable feet and songs from a confident voice, including an inventive rendition of “The Way You Look Tonight.” At times Glover taps at such speed one wonders if his legs aren’t plugged into electrical sockets. By the end of the first 30 minutes he is drenched from head to toe and finishes in a glorious collapse as the stage goes to black.

When the lights come up again, the stage is shared by three talented tappers: Maurice Chestnut, Ashley DeForest, and Cartier Williams. The ensemble work is at its strongest when solos emerge like the nonchalant hammering of the 14-year-old Williams or the more refined dynamic of Chestnut. The group work is less affective and becomes more academic and less heartfelt. Unfortunately, I found the recorded music to be an annoying distraction to the sound of the tappers.

Improvography is a terrific combination of inspired jazz arrangements and the prowess of this generation’s hottest tap dancer, who continues to push the form into new directions. — EI

I’m sure I saw something remarkable at Emi Greco | PC’s performance last night of Rimasta Orfano in the Sottile Theatre, but I’m still not certain what. It’s been said of dancer and choreographer Emio Greco that he mines everyday movements for his work. I don’t know about that, but I can tell you if I saw anyone moving in the manner he and his troupe of five other dancers moved that night, I’d be calling 911. I found it impossible to follow any sort of narrative for the 90-minute dance, but the extraordinary pictures theese dancers made, the hyperkinetic way they twisted, contorted, shivered, writhed, dropped, squirmed, jerked, undulated, and spun, was clearly in the service of a story (Rimasta Orfano translates as “abandoned orphan, for what it’s worth.) David Gordon’s powerful music ranged from long stretches of absolute silence to a cacaphony of alarms and air-raid sirens, barely audible sounds of crickets chirping and gently humming machine sounds to jet aircraft crossing the room and string and brass ensembles. Afterward, it was clear not everyone in the audience understood what they’d seen, but judging from the chatter on the street outside the Sottile, they sure respected it.

Despite the crappy weather of Saturday and Sunday night – what with the Reggae Block Party nearly being canceled, the Andre Mehmari trio and their audience schlepping gamely from the Cistern to the Gaillard instead of canceling, and of course yet another dreary, wet first Monday — Piccolo’s Memorial Day concert at Liberty Square in front of the Aquarium went off well, their Children’s Festival at Marion Square was a rousing success, and the Seed and Feed Marching Abominable Band raised the roof at the Market after Saturday’s Custom House shindig, just as they always do.

Rain or no, the coming week holds even more excitement and promise than even the festival’s opening weekend, with Spoleto premieres of Contemporary Legend Theatre’s Kingdom of Desire, two more of the Solo Turns theatre presentations, another Colla Marionette program, the Westminster Choir, both the Choral and Festival Concerts, more Wachovia Jazz and Bank of America Chamber Music concerts, Amajuba – Like Doves We Rise and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s famous dance program, with still more after that. And I’ll be seeing a lot more of Piccolo Spoleto in the coming week, which I’ll share with you here in this space.

More on tap sensation Savion Glover from contributing writer Eliza Ingle…

Savion Glover is an electric performer whose energy and skill translate into a highly entertaining show. For the first part of the evening, Glover is joined by four great jazz musicians: Tommy James, Brian Grice, Patience Higgins and Andy McCloud. As each musician entered a dialog between dancer and instrument ensued until at last the dancer became an instrument himself. Glover is a sound machine producing intricate rhythms that come from his lower extremities and songs from a confident voice including an inventive rendition of “The Way You Look Tonight” and David Bowie’s “Nature Boy” from Baz Luhrmann’s film Moulin Rouge. At times Glover taps at such speed one wonders if his legs aren’t plugged into electrical sockets. By the end of the first 30 minutes he is drenched from head to toe and finishes in a glorious collapse as the stage goes to black. When the lights come on the stage is shared by three talented tappers: Maurice Chestnut, Ashley DeForest and Cartier Williams. The ensemble work is at its strongest when solos emerge like the nonchalant hammering of the 14 year old Williams or the more refined dynamic of Chestnut. The group work is less affective and becomes more academic and less heartfelt. The recorded music is an annoying distraction to the sound of the tappers.

Improvography is a terrific combination of inspired jazz arrangements and the prowess of this generation’s hottest tap dancer who continues to push the form into new directions.