Word: tharpe
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...then there is that inimitable chatterbox Twyla Tharp, who lightens a dry, cluttered program on postmodern dance. She talks up a storm about her work and, in rehearsal, cows a dancer and his ballerina into showing more feeling for each other. How did she get into choreography? "Nobody else would tolerate me so I had to make up my own dances," she explains. And so the camera catches her alone in a studio, bulky in practice clothes and noshing on a carrot, as she starts designing some steps to a Sousa march. Delightful...
...Alas, Tharp, like almost every other dancer in the program, is shown in disconnected snippets, often without explanatory context. The reason is that the series' interest in dance is less aesthetic than anthropological. The message seems to be that all peoples dance, ergo all dancing is equal -- even though some tribal rites, no matter how sacred they may be, are about as interesting to watch as the growth of bamboo. What's more, Dancing is multicultural with a vengeance, meaning that the producers think it insufficient to examine the central role that dance plays in primitive societies; they must also...
Much has changed over the years. Tharp is 51 and losing some of her plasticity, if none of her cheek. Baryshnikov is 44. Because of recurrent knee problems, his famous jump has been curtailed and he cannot lift Tharp, but his technique is as pure and liquid as ever. The evening, with mostly new works, tries to cope with the physical realities that confront them both and is only partly successful...
...worst comes first. A medley all too aptly titled Schtick is stale, botched Broadway, except for a fleeting, funny solo for Baryshnikov composed of stock classical-ballet flourishes. This kind of parody is familiar, but Tharp wisely keeps it light and witty. The heart of the evening is a suite for the two stars set to Pergolesi -- dreamy, deeply musical, full of surprising yet harmonious moves. In a zippy finale, the stars cavort, and six fine young backup dancers finally get to strut some very flashy stuff...
...Probably Tharp will refine the evening during the tour. Maybe another oldie or two would not hurt. To see Baryshnikov's lyrical, muscular performance in One More for the Road (1983), a last-act highlight, is to watch a marvelous synthesis of classical and modern dance -- what their creative partnership is all about...