Trisha Brown at BAM

Helen and I went to go see the Trisha Brown Dance Company this evening at BAM. There were four pieces and we were both truly blown away by the second and fourth pieces. The second piece, O zlozony/O Composite, featured two guys and one woman (Aurélie Dupont, Manuel Legris and Nicholas le Riche) against a backdrop of the Milky Way. The score was, as the Times so eloquently described it, "a recycling spiel in I know not which Eastern European language over some inoffensive rhythms that suggest now African music, now rock." Ms. Dupont, switched back and forth between bare feet and point shoes in a way that was not noticeable, and there were moments when I was like, "surely she is not on point in her barefeet!" Helen and I felt she was incredibly flawless as a dancer, and despite the Times giving it a rather boring review, I was incredibly inspired. 

However, the fourth performance, “L’Amour au théâtre,” which was the world premiere, which was set to excerpts from Rameau’s “Hippolyte et Aricie,” was so uplifting and whimsical and purely delightful in every way that I left the theater wanting to go home and spring around my own apartment in some sort of ode to Summertime. From the superb costumes which seemed to be straight out of some boutique which I wished actually existed, to the mix up of partnering — the women were held and lifted by the guys, and then they provided the support at times for the guys as well, giving the impression that both the men and women were given fully equal roles in this particular dance. This was really quite satisfying, in a way that is not really describeable; as is the fact that the guys also danced with one another...something you rarely see. The intimacy between the dancers was incredible, in the sense that the movements seemed to emanate deep from within each dancer and then flow from one another like emotions.