"Hearing the urgent narration (and watching Mr. Fogel’s emphatic gyrations as he spoke), you wanted to follow his words; meanwhile your focus was dragged away from equally meaningful contributions by the singers and dancers."
Did Zorn compose his music to follow any of the movement? Sounds like it was the other way around - which is relatively common among choreographers. It's a bit misleading (in my opinion) to call such a collaboration a "collaboration" - as the composer does his thing without much input from the persons responsible for the movement.
I welcome anything from the Times writers that takes time to discuss both movement AND music in contemporary dance performance. That is a rare thing - I think because of editorial decision making. And frankly, the nature of a lot of "collaborations" between choreographers and composers amounts to a choreographer grafting their work onto music people in NYC are relatively familiar with.
I mean, how many choreographers in NYC have created a piece to the prerecorded music of STEVE REICH or ARVO PART?
I just wonder was Zorn at the rehearsals for this dance? Did he alter his music accordingly?
And by the way, I LOVE Zorn. He's inspired me for a long time.
really fine review, excellent work explaining Zorn's new work in a simple and direct style. sad I missed the show...
Posted by: Charlie | November 28, 2008 at 05:47 PM
Ah - I love John Zorn! This sounds like heaven. Wish I had seen it for myself.
Posted by: Shira | November 28, 2008 at 07:58 PM
"Hearing the urgent narration (and watching Mr. Fogel’s emphatic gyrations as he spoke), you wanted to follow his words; meanwhile your focus was dragged away from equally meaningful contributions by the singers and dancers."
Did Zorn compose his music to follow any of the movement? Sounds like it was the other way around - which is relatively common among choreographers. It's a bit misleading (in my opinion) to call such a collaboration a "collaboration" - as the composer does his thing without much input from the persons responsible for the movement.
I welcome anything from the Times writers that takes time to discuss both movement AND music in contemporary dance performance. That is a rare thing - I think because of editorial decision making. And frankly, the nature of a lot of "collaborations" between choreographers and composers amounts to a choreographer grafting their work onto music people in NYC are relatively familiar with.
I mean, how many choreographers in NYC have created a piece to the prerecorded music of STEVE REICH or ARVO PART?
I just wonder was Zorn at the rehearsals for this dance? Did he alter his music accordingly?
And by the way, I LOVE Zorn. He's inspired me for a long time.
Posted by: Chris Becker | November 29, 2008 at 09:26 AM