Steve Reich Evening
Part of the 2008 Next Wave Festival
Oct 22—25 at 7:30pm
Rosas
Choreography by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
Music by Steve Reich and György Ligeti
Live music performed by Ictus
"Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker has helped define contemporary dance as we know it..."—The Independent (UK)
Choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker returns to BAM with a program that celebrates her evolving relationship with the music of Steve Reich, one of our most inventive and iconic modern composers. Working from a divine logic—often expressed as exalted permutations on a single theme—they each invest their work with an emotional heart, creating pieces that transcend definition as they challenge our notions of sound and movement.
Reich's globally-inclusive mix of Western vernacular, classical, and non-Western influences, performed live by Brussels' percussion ensemble Ictus, dovetails perfectly with De Keersmaeker's formal, richly expressive choreography. Two new dance works, set to Reich's Four Organs and the subtle, harmonically intriguing Eight Lines, shimmer with the choreographer's signature rigor and appetite for space. Every step, every phrase, reflects De Keersmaeker's delicate mix of minimalism and sensuality; a transfer of weight from one foot to the next feels both matter-of-fact and momentous. The effect is of great suspense, a slow build rife with drama.
Also on the program are Piano Phase from the four-part Fase, a riveting women's duet performed along an invisible, unwavering line, and Part 1 of Drumming, a rush of semaphoring limbs, frenetic pairings, and rapid shifts of direction.
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House
Running time: 105min, no intermission
Ticket: $20, 40, 55
Sound design by Alexandre Fostier
Lighting design by Remon Fromont
Set and Lighting design for Drumming by Jan Versweyveld
Costume design by Tim Van Steenbergen / Dries Van Noten for Drumming and Rosas for Piano Phase
A production of Rosas and De Munt/La Monnaie.
Co-produced by Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg and Théâtre de la Ville, Paris
Rosas Site
The web home of Anna Teresa De Keersmaeker's formidable, all-female Belgian dance company. More
Steve Reich Site
The night belongs, musically speaking, to the minimalist master. More
Ictus Site
The Belgian new music ensemble will be performing with De Keersmaeker. More
Interview with Anne Teresa de Keeresmaeker
"Dance is also dust, seduction, eroticism, the need for recognition." More
The New York Times on Anne Teresa de Keeresmaeker
Critic Anna Kisselgoff profiles the Steve Reich Evening choreographer. More