Healthy Fenley brings new 'Horizons,' new dancer to Joyce - dancer Molissa Fenley returns to Joyce Theater

Dance Magazine, Jan, 1997 by Rebecca Stenn

NEW YORK CITY - As Molissa Fenley prepares to return to the Joyce Theater January 28 to February 2, she does so with characteristic serenity. Seemingly unflappable, she has come back from a devastating knee injury almost completely unscathed, to present a program of three works. The experience and subsequent convalescence have, however, influenced her and given her new ideas to explore.

A constant theme for Fenley is that of wide open spaces, characterized most clearly by images of the ocean. When she was recovering from her injury, she took long walks on the beach, and allowed the contemplative feeling of the sea to take her to a place of quiet intensity. This led to ideas for the new work, Horizons.

The piece was developed in three parts, each a collaboration with a different artist. in the first section, loosely representing the past, Fenley worked with Tanzanian composer Jonathan Hart Makwaia. He plays piano and sings songs from his childhood in Africa which have personal implications for Fenley, who spent the greater part of her youth in Nigeria.

The second section is a collaboration with playwright John Jesurun, whose text is about an older woman looking back on her life. Jane Smith will read the text onstage. When Fenley began work on this section of the piece, loosely based on the present, she says, "I didn't want to listen to the words being read out loud. I read the text myself to get my own rhythm. I began to use the words as a physical map for the choreography."

The final section is a collaboration with visual artist Roy Fowler. He has made large paintings with images based on people in nature. They are realistic: the beach, ocean, sky, a boardwalk, all suggestive and peaceful. "There is an intimation of a sense of place from his work," Fenley says.

The three aspects of the piece as a whole are separate yet intertwined throughout. Each collaboration takes place on a separate part of the stage. "I work spatially, dividing the stage to make clear and distinctive places," says Fenley. Each collaboration has allowed her to explore a different departure point for the choreography. "Collaboration catapults you into another place. Even one word [from your collaborator] might bring an outpouring of work."

Something relatively new for Fenley, at least at the Joyce, is that this season she has set two of her solos on other dancers. The eighteen minute Pola'a (the Hawaiian word describes a quiet ocean) will be performed on three nights by New York City Ballet principal Peter Boal. "I love making pieces for ballet companies," says Fenley. "I like the crispness of the dancers' technique."

Boal says he was "thrilled when she presented the idea to me. I was taken aback the first time I saw her perform, by the idea that one person could sustain the audience's interest for two hours." The rehearsal process has been both difficult and interesting for him. "Watching Molissa rehearse, the mood is serene and concentrated. It is like stepping into her very personal world, which is tranquil, like a body of water you don't want to disturb."

Boal says he learned the basic structure of the piece first. "When I learn a ballet piece it is like learning words from an alphabet I already know. Now I am suddenly looking at a new vocabulary, a new alphabet. I am learning new steps as well as sequence." In the end however, Boal says, "I picked up the feeling of the solo." The music is by Lou Harrison.

Completing the program is Sita, named after the Hindu goddess representing peace, loyalty and love. Fenley and Vicky Shick alternate in the role. The music is a piano solo by Philip Glass, performed live by pianist Martin Goldray. Sandi Fellman has made large photographs of Fenley's body that are onstage throughout. "The body becomes a landscape." says Fenley. About the inspiration for the piece, she says,"'i have been continually inspired by Asian art. It brings you to a contemplative place where your own imagination is allowed to soar. It is like an invitation.",