France Dances Through New York - festival France Moves

Dance Magazine, April, 2001 by Karyn Bauer

Sharing the stage at BAM with Decoufle will be the Compagnie Montalvo-Hervieu, headed by Spanish-born Jose Montalvo and French native Dominique Hervieu, who return to New York with the American premiere of their high-speed baroque Le jardin io io ito ito. A vast collage in motion, the piece brings to life the limitlessness of the imagination in a salute to Dada and Max Ernst. The title is inspired by a collage by Ernst in which bird-headed men and women cry out: "Epopopoi, popai popopopoi, popoi io io iot itoi."

Designed to snub xenophobia, this wild garden is a celebration of today's diverse, multicultural and multilingual cities. For Montalvo, who was also a student of Carlson, Nikolais and Cunningham, today's choreography marks "an end to postmodernism. The artist no longer has to give his work meaning; rather, he must say what problems he is trying to solve."

The show is comprised of a mind-boggling series of 100 one-minute segments, including hip-hop danced to Vivaldi, flamenco alongside a circus act, and classical ballet in tandem with traditional African dance. An interactive video, complete with human-headed wild animals, forms the backdrop. Each dancer in the company has a clearly defined role, inspired initially by free-form improvisation before being shaped and fitted into the piece as a whole.

Approaching dancers in an individual way is perhaps one of the more remarkable changes to occur to Maguy Marin's style since her last appearance at the Joyce Theater in 1998, when she presented RamDam. Her 1999 departure I from Paris, where she ran the National Dance Center (CND) of Creteil, for Rillieux-la-Pape, an impoverished suburb on the outskirts of Lyons, marked a distinctive turning point for Marin.

"I suppose what has changed most," commented Marin, "is the work I have been doing on an individual level with the members of the company, working one-on-one on a personal level. It is radically different."

Her latest creation, Pour ainsi dire (So to speak), a trio that will be presented at the newly renovated New Victory Theater, is emblematic of her new approach. With its use of the spoken word, if only in broken, repetitious phrases, Pour ainsi dire is highly theatrical. Set in a very cozy makeshift apartment, a trio's movements are punctuated by the rhythm of their intertwining, erratic speech.

Well known in America for the wit and originality of May B, which recently celebrated its 400th performance, and such other works as Cendrillon and Coppdlia, Marin sees participating in "France Moves" as a chance to see New York audiences in a new light. "Since ten companies will be participating, even if people see only half of what is presented, I have the impression that there will be more interaction with the public," she said. "I am looking forward to that."

Among the lesser-known choreographers to be presenting their work during the festival is Blanca Li, who will be at the Kitchen with Zap Zap, a dance comedy that puts Blanca Li onstage as a talk-show host, Blanca Li as a crepe-cooking guest from Brittany, Blanca Li as a Chinese acrobat ... Dominique Boivin will be at the Alliance Franqaise with the humorous La Danse, une histoire a ma facon (The history of dance, my way); Lionel Hoche, who created his first choreography for the Paris Opera Ballet last autumn, will present Nychtemere, Volubilis/ Mirabilis, a sensual piece performed alongside an organist; and Fred Bendongue's Compagnie Azanie will celebrate African, Caribbean and Brazilian dance forms and musical rhythms.