| ‘… “Sorry, I forgot...”
by dancer/choreographer Jaclyn Moynahan was an edgy, confrontational composition
where Ms. Moynahan utilized her athletic, long-limbed build to engage
in kicks, spins, and chiropractically challenging back rolls. Her lip
synch to the brooding song "Nervous Cabaret" gave the piece
a touch of garish theatricality which suited the mood of the movements.
… ’ For the full article please
go to: http://www.mvtimes.com/calendar/10202005/dance.html
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Dance Review | JaxDance
One Impediment After Another
By JACK ANDERSON
Published: July 23, 2005
People kept fumbling to free themselves from
hindrances in Jaclyn Moynahan’s “What's Holding You Up?,”
which JaxDance presented Thursday night at Studio 111 in Williamsburg,
Brooklyn. One impediment led to another in this two-act production,
danced to taped musical collages devised by Ann Donohue and the choreographer.
In the first act, called “Side A,”
Ms. Moynahan invented deliberately awkward steps and used them ingeniously
in her choreography for Shawna Emerick and Kimberly Goss. Assertive
movements ended with stumbles, and leaps gave way to collapses. The
women were often in unison. But because a transparent curtain designed
by Ms. Moynahan separated them, they seemed to be in other worlds. Then
Ms. Emerick wrote on the back wall of the space a statement about someone
being led "to a place where nothing else was wanted.
That place was surely not the confining one
designed for “Side B,” the second act, by Ms. Moynahan and
David Tirosh, who was also one of her dancers. Mr. Tirosh struggled
inside a rectangular construction. Ms. Moynahan tried to wriggle out
of a box.
Brief moments of liberation gave way to new
confinements. Mr. Tirosh grew agile enough to swing from the sides of
his construction. Then he pulled its roof down on his head until it
almost crushed him. After Ms. Moynahan rescued him, he, Ms. Emerick
and Ms. Goss hobbled in costumes resembling straitjackets. (They were
designed by Larissa Penson, assisted by Kari Miller.)
Ms. Moynahan's character underwent a surprising
metamorphosis. This woman who had been boxed in suddenly sat atop the
box making ominous commanding gestures at other people, as if she were
now an evil empress.
“What's Holding You Up?” was a two-act
choreographic obstacle course. Lasting only 50 minutes, it made its
points concisely, so its endless tribulations stayed always interesting.
JaxDance concludes tonight at Studio 111, 111 Conselyea Street, Williamsburg,
Brooklyn, (718) 387-2630.
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