 He was a groundbreaking
choreographer. He was a groundbreaking lighting designer. Composer
of radical scores. Revolutionary costume designer. The late Alwin
Nikolais, the fiercely original father of multi-media before it
even had a name, imprinted generations of artists of all kinds.
The stage of The Joyce Theater will radiate with Nikolais’s
own luminous imagination, October 28–November 2. Produced
by Murray Louis and the Nikolais/Louis Foundation for Dance, The
Joyce engagement is part of a project created to celebrate the 10th
Anniversary of the master’s death.
Comprised of four decades of work (1953 to 1985), the program was
selected by Murray Louis, Nikolais’s long-time collaborator
and co-founder of the Nikolais/Louis Foundation for Dance. In an
unusual move for the dance world, Louis decided to invite Utah’s
Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company to perform Nikolais’s work rather
than try and resurrect the original company for the celebration.
Both Shirley Ririe and Joan Woodbury had had an ongoing relationship
with the master choreographer since the 60’s through residencies,
classes and the performance of his repertory. The Ririe-Woodbury
dancers were rehearsed by Alberto Del Saz, who danced with the Nikolais
Company for 20 years and is now co-artistic director of the Nikolais/Louis
Foundation.
The Joyce program exemplifies Nikolais’s artistic and philosophical
trajectory over four decades including his consideration of dance
as an abstract art form, as motion as opposed to emotion. He also
used dance as a means to investigate man’s place in the environment
through an examination of his relationship to space, time, shape
and motion.
In his 1953 "Noumenon Mobilus," one of Nikolais’s
first forays into abstraction, the performers are encased in elastic
fabric; the work is a study of sculptural mobility. Also powerful
in its sculptural feel is the 1956 "Lythic," in which
four colorful Cycladic-looking figures perform a ritualistic ceremony.
In "Tensile Involvement" (1955), the performers weave
colorful ribbons in intricate patterns across the stage. This spectacle
of strength, line and shape gives visible form to his investigation
of energy and space. Another, less often seen side of "Nik"
as he was called, is his kinetic humor represented by his 1982 "Mechanical
Organ," a joyful suite of dances.
His ongoing experiments with lights, projections and optical illusion
is reflected in his mesmerizing "Crucible," (1985) in
which torsos and legs seem to float in space. His use of reflective
materials in the work give the anatomical body a witty and poetic
dimension. The use of light in the finale from "Liturgies"
(1983) emphasizes the dance’s spiritual and communal feeling.
By contrast, the most recent work on the program, "Blank on
Blank," (1987) is set in white on white design, emphasizing
the starkness of a nihilist society.
Born in Southington, Connecticut in 1910, from Russian and German
parents, Alwin Nikolais studied piano at an early age and as a teenager,
performed as an organist accompanying silent movies at the local
theater. As a young artist he studied music composition, scenic
design, acting and puppetry. (He directed the Hartford Marionette
Theatre, 1935-1937.) Originally inspired to take dance classes after
seeing a performance by Mary Wigman, he studied at Bennington College
with Martha Graham, Hanya Holm, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman.
He received his first commission in 1940 for "Eight Column
Line," created in collaboration with his first modern teacher
Truda Kashmann. In 1942, Nikolais was inducted into the army and
served overseas during World War II. Following the war, he relocated
to New York City to study with Hanya Holm, eventually becoming her
assistant. Appointed director of the Henry Street Playhouse in 1948,
he funded the Playhouse Dance Company, which will later become Nikolais
Dance Theatre. During his tenure at the Henry Street Playhouse,
he developed his ‘total theatre’ concept that portrays
man as inseparable from his environment. Also while at the Playhouse,
Alwin Nikolais began his 50-year collaboration with Murray Louis.
The company’s performance at the 1956 American Dance Festival
received high critical praise, establishing it as a new force in
the dance world. Its 1968 season in Paris helped propel the company
onto the international circuit, which led to several subsequent
tours around the world. In 1978, the French Ministry of Culture
appointed Nikolais as the first director of the Centre National
de la Danse Contemporaine d’Angers. A tremendous influence
on French modern dance, he is often referred to as its American
patriarch.
Nikolais was the recipient of some of the most prestigious national
and international awards. In 1987, he was awarded both National
Medal of Arts and the Kennedy Center Honors, the two most prestigious
awards in the United States. He was appointed a Knight in France’s
Order of Legion of Honor, and a commander in the Order of Arts and
Letters. He received the Grande Médaille Vermeille, the highest
honor from the city of Paris, as well as medals from the city of
Seville, Spain and Athens, Greece, and a special citation, shared
with Murray Louis, from the Mayor of New York City. The recipient
of several honorary doctorate degrees, he was also given many prestigious
fellowships and creative grants. Alwin Nikolais and his work have
been the subject of numerous films and television programs including
the 1987 "Nik and Murray" documentary for PBS’s
American Masters.
The Ririe-Woodbury tour of Nikolais’s work began in Salt Lake
City, UT September 23 with stops in Avon, CO (September 30); Fort
Collins, CO (October 2); Hampton, VA (October 4 & 5) and in
Los Angeles, CA (October 18); Mission Viejo, CA (October 19) and
San Francisco, CA (October 24). Following The Joyce Theater season,
Nikolais Dance Theatre will cross the Atlantic to bring the tour
to France, with performances in Paris (February 24–28); Lyon
(March 2–7); Martigues (March 9–10); and Narbonne (March
12–13).
The evening curtain for the Nikolais celebration at The Joyce Theater,
Tuesday through Saturday, is at 8pm and on Sunday at 7:30pm. There
will also be 2pm matinees on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $40
and are available at The Joyce Theater box office, by calling JoyceCharge
at 212-242-0800 or online at www.joyce.org. The Joyce Theater is
located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street.
Also part of the Nikolais Dance Theatre project is a series of panel
discussions, classes, lectures, and performances that will take
place at New York’s Hunter College, October 10–12. The
Alwin Nikolais Legacy Forum is directed by former Nikolais dancer
Gerald Otte, who also teaches on the faculty. For more information,
please call 212-772-5010.
###
Support for The Nikolais Dance
Theatre Project was provided by The National Endowment for the Arts,
Altria Group Inc., The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, George S. and
Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, Emma Eccles Jones Foundation,
Marriner A. Eccles Foundation, American Express, Utah Public Affairs
Department, Key Foundation - A Foundation Funded by KeyBank and
The Harkness Foundation for Dance.
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