El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY.
October 15, 2024.
vildwerk. premiered its inaugural season on October 15th and 16th at the El Museo del Barrio in NYC. The organization, formed in 2022, aims to raise awareness about environmental conservation through dance. Each piece explores various elements of life on earth and utilizes 33 dancers over the course of eight works.
The night began with a video welcome from the organizing team, conservationists, and choreographers highlighting the dire state of our environment and the need to take action now. Holding the glossy (somewhat confusing) multi-page program in my hand felt a tad ironic given the topic of the night. I had hoped for a QR code to reduce the paper use.
Each dance had a distinct earthly quality. The first, a trio by Joshua Beamish, brings awareness to the migratory patterns of macaws. For two men and one woman, the work was danced so well and utilizing non-gender conforming partnering, a treat to see.
From the sky, we land in dirt for the next work – a tale of mycorrhizal fungi – with live and synthesized music. The contemporary piece showed beautiful ballet technique and seemed to take us on a journey from the desert to the sky and back. From this interconnectedness, we are reminded of extinction and the human responsibility in creating such a phenomenon. A duet choreographed and danced by Mara Galeazzi (with partner Jason Kittelberger) explores such gravity, clothed in black and danced with a poignant beauty that left the house dead silent.
A whimsical dance celebrating butterflies carried us on our journey of our planet with a international cast including children, a nod perhaps to the notion that butterflies know no borders, and was complete with a non-dancing character in street clothes following the art around the stage, as if in a butterfly sanctuary.
Buglisi Dance Theatre took the stage next with a dance imploring the audience to consider how the climate crisis threatens each and every being on earth. From a serene start to a destructive end, this work used video elements to heighten the gravity and emotional impact of the state of the world.
Simplicity takes the stage again with Christopher Weeldon’s This Bitter Earth, a widely performed duet, but a welcome treat anytime it’s on a program. This gorgeous, haunting piece was danced with the grace and confidence of New York City Ballet artists Unity Phelan and Preston Chamblee.
A solo by Joshua Beamish follows, exploring the illegal poaching trade of the golden turtle. Costumed in a gold unitard, Mara Galezzi takes on the story with a weightiness and also a bit of welcome humor, reminding us that animals are joyful and funny.
Closing the night was the spectacle Divinity in Paradox, by Briana J. Reed. In three acts, the work appeared to have a robust plot, but it was muddled to the observer without the program notes which, unfortunately, I couldn’t read due to the darkness of the theater and the tiny font. Regardless, the dancing was strong.
vildwerk.’s mission is a noble one, and watching so many talents onstage was a treat. However, it suffered from over-complication in the ticketing check-in (each audience member had to be checked off a handwritten list manned by only a few people) and the program (fussy, confusing and impossible to read). Beyond that, the impact of the mission prevailed and should be used as an example of how the arts can be part of the conversation on climate change and environmental stability.
By Emily Sarkissian of Dance Informa.
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