Rearguard

A dance group was brought from America

In Moscow, as part of an extensive tour of the cities of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, performances of the American troupe CityDance Ensemble took place. The audience was small, and the audience did not look like “connoisseurs - fans” of dances, clearly serving on this cold evening the invitations they received for the occasion. The childlike coziness of the red plush branch of the Maly Theater on Bolshaya Ordynka also set the mood for quiet joy among classmates or colleagues.

And it must be said that CityDance Ensemble fully justified the atmosphere of archaic relaxation.

Unlike most phenomena in the field of modern dance, CityDance Ensemble is not an original project. The group dances choreography by various authors, which, however, judging by what was presented at the evening, is not very diverse and does not greatly influence the style of performance, built on the traditional speed and power of American dance.

The program, shown in Moscow, consisted of six numbers, among which the greatest enthusiasm among the audience was caused by a circus divertissement in underpants with a brand new mattress, which still retained a store-bought paper corner (because it’s always fun about bed), and a duet of a Taiwanese baby with a mop. The dances, based on jogging, with simple parterre elements and falling rotations, were remembered for the hypertrophied attention of the directors to the backside of the performers, who were permanently facing the audience with twisting spines and swaying hips at different tempos. At the same time, it is completely impossible to understand how the authors intended to communicate with the viewer by turning the performers into an arier. The most expressive was still the image of the janitor, after a loving explanation, dragging his mop across the floor, with his belly extended to his knees.

The evening ended with the Esplanade dance, choreographed by tradition by the highly revered American choreographer Paul Taylor to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. The phenomenon of one of the main modernist choreographers in the United States (he is eighty and his work has influenced half of the choreographers in America) has long remained a mystery, despite the fact that his choreography has already been danced a lot in Russia by various touring troupes. And only in comparison with other productions by American authors it became clear that the optimistic message of the dance, the appeal to folklore motifs and some exaggerated tenderness of Taylor's girls should have distinguished Mr. Taylor from the monotonous dance plankton.

CityDance Ensemble persistently declares itself as a “professional” group. This emphasis is somewhat surprising considering that the company’s tour is scheduled many months in advance. However, the goose-like posture of the performers, the released abs in the dance and the shoulders climbing into the ears explain the persistence of press releases and at the same time cast doubt on their assessment.

However, such straightforward positioning can be attributed to the inexperience of the tour organizer, which was a certain travel company and for which, let’s say, organizing artist tours is a non-core activity. However, we note that their talent as an organizer was enough to enlist the support of the US Embassy.

Anton FLEROV