Ruth Leon recommends… European Contemporary Dance – Jacob’s Pillow

European Contemporary Dance – Jacob’s Pillow

​Click here to watch

I came across this set of video clips while browsing the website of Jacob’s Pillow, the dance centre in the Berkshires. It gives a glimpse of the styles of a wide variety of dance companies and a window into what is happening today in contemporary dance. Just click on any of these windows to see a sample of current choreographic thinking from companies as different as Danish Dance Theater, Compania Nacional de Danza, and 13 more. All individual visions from different choreographers in a dizzying variety of styles.

They include Johan Inger’s approach to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring for Nederlands Dans Theater 2 which envisions the story as a daydream inspired by a fleeting encounter between the sexes. In a fascinating cross-cultural exchange, Borrowed Light, Finnish choreographer Tero Saarinen and inspiration in the American Shakers to create this ground-breaking dance.

​Here too is The Ramirez-Wong Company, the French-Hispanic-Korean duo of Sebasian Ramirez and Honji Wang as well as as solo from Lutz Foster, a long time company member of the now legendary Pina Bausch. If you ever entertained the daft theory that contemporary dance was “all the same” these snippets will disabuse you of it and entertain you at the same time.

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