[Voxnovus] NM421> December 29, 2014 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!! - REVIEW: An Organic Blend

Mon Dec 29 06:39:51 EST 2014

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 HAPPY NEW YEAR
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December 29, 2014 	

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REVIEW: An Organic Blend 	
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HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 

MAY YOU HAVE A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR IN 2015! 

 Compooser's Voice
<http://www.voxnovus.com/NM421/img/14-12-29-Composers_Voice.jpg> 

An Organic Blend 

December 14 , 2014 - Composer's Voice Concert Review
Review by Jack Crager 

By Jack Crager 

The December 14 Composer's Voice Concert at Jan Hus Church is a dazzling
mesh of sound and sight. Guest Curator David Morneau presents a series of
improvisational compositions accompanied by the lively dance work of Andrea
Skurr and the performance group Ruah, Inc. The result is a melange of
abstract sounds and fluid movements, blending together like an exotic dish
and delicate sauce whose magic is inexplicable but tasty nonetheless. 

 Andrea Skurr and David Morneau
<http://www.voxnovus.com/NM421/img/14-12-29-December_Dance_1.jpg> 

First up are the co-curators: Morneau performs his own composition, "Blue
Toe," on trombone, with structured dance improvisation by Skurr and
direction from Guest Artistic Director Beth Megill. The piece begins with
mournful horn phrases like howls in the wild, alternating between sliding
glissandos and brisk arpeggios, accompanied by a flowing dance that feeds
off the energy and suspense of the slippery notes and hanging pauses. As
Morneau circles the stage, playing into different corners of the Jan Hus
hall to achieve varied sounds, Skurr circles behind him, her body rising and
pushing as the notes lift and winding down with the downward aural slides;
the electricity between the performers culminates with her mysterious tap of
his shoulder to end the piece. 

 Fifteen Minutes of Fame
<http://www.voxnovus.com/img/Fifteen_Minutes_of_Fame_logo_new.jpg>  Diego
Vasquez <http://www.voxnovus.com/NM421/img/14-12-29-December_Dance_2.jpg> 

A quick segue-way brings clarinetist Diego Vasquez to the stage to perform
the CV mainstay "Fifteen Minutes of Fame," curated by Vasquez with movement
direction by Skurr. This progression of one-minute pieces unfolds as an
animated dance interchange between Vasquez, Skurr, and creative
collaborators Stine Moen and Brenna Palughi, with music and movements
setting sparks off one another. 

The sequence begins with Vasquez alone performing Emil Khoury's "Jamboree,"
playing his woodwind with motion that's lively to the point of manic.
Shifting into Thomas Goedecke's "Meandering by Myself" (ironically enough),
Vasquez is joined by Skurr and Moen, who hoist him to their shoulders and
and spin the clarinetist as he plays, before lowering him during a subdued
passage. The pace picks up again for Daniel Arnold's "Flamenco," with Moen
and Vasquez engaged at one point in a seductive bump-and-grind dance; the
playfulness continues as Palughi joins Vasquez in a peek-a-boo exchange for
David Bohn's "Jenny Kissed Me." Later, during Michael Barrett Donovan's
"Artificial Bird," all four performers break into a mechanical formation
complete with wing flaps and tail flutters; this segues into Sara Huff's
"Sun Bird," during which Vasquez is hoisted onto two dancers' backs,
lowered, and led in circles as another holds his music. The circular romps
and sashaying games continue as the musical pieces weave and build,
culminating in the symbiotic choreography of Juan Maria Solare's "Yelling
Rainbow," followed by the closer, Brian Petuch's "Twitch," during which the
dancers vigorously surround the clarinetist and then sudden finish in
drop-dead mode. Of course. 

 New Thread Quartet
<http://www.voxnovus.com/NM421/img/14-12-29-New_Thread_Quartet.jpg> 

After an instrumentalist ambushed by dancers, what's next? Woodwinds in the
round - namely a saxophone combo called the New Thread Quartet, including
Kristen McKeon, Zach Herchen, Geoffrey Landman, and Erin Rogers. Rogers is
the composer of the afternoon finale, "Moving Lines," which is choreographed
under the artistic direction of Skurr and featuring "Ruah + guests." The
piece begins with a series of mysterious chords by the sax quartet, emerging
like church-organ musings while two dancers (Skurr and Moen), still down
from the last count, slowly come to and literally roll off stage. Palughi
remains and, as the music builds, she is joined by a passer-by male dancer
from the audience who revives her like a reluctant flower and stirs up a
duet. The other dancers return for an energetic four-way interplay, while
the saxes exchange increasingly frantic flurries and an almost combative
sonic bantering. 

This gives way to a regal harmonic section, like a quiet sunrise, as the
four shift into a flowing dance of sun salutations and pretzel-like twists
that reflects the tautness of the rising tones. As the music grows more
contemplative, the dancers seem to alternate between rest and action,
tugging each other with flirtation and avoidance, pairing off in different
scenarios until Palughi engages her male partner in a folding sequence, as
if old age has taken over. While the long chords grow more intense she wraps
him into prayer-like poses, bends him into states of repose, and finally
sets him aside as if he's turned to stone. The "Moving Lines" have abated.
And the artistic afternoon has come to a somber but resonate end.

You can find more as well as see and hear some of the performances at the
following link: http://www.ComposersVoice.com/media/ 

 Jack Crager <http://www.voxnovus.com/NM421/img/Jack_Crager.jpg> 

Jack Crager 

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