NYC Dance Happenings- Bebe Miller Dance Company

It’s Necessary.
By: Ashley L. Mathus

Bessie Award winning choreographer, Bebe Miller, will be touring with her new evening-length work, Necessary Beauty. Believe us, this is obligatory. Coming to New York City November 11th-15th, Dance Theater Workshop will be hosting this extraordinary company. Miller paraphrases Einstein in comparison to her choreography, “The most beautiful emotion we can experience is the mysterious”. Six dancers, including Miller, digest what makes what beautiful, exploring literal intricacies of space, time, and emotion. Innovative Miller travels through her world via text and imagery reflecting deep personal recollections. Miller says, “Video and animated imagery will be projected on a series of free standing surfaces along with theater walls and floor, and the sound score will be played live by composer Albert Mathias.”

Following her award-winning piece Landing/Place, Necessary Beauty fragments the dancers agile movement qualities, repelling and engaging Miller’s introverted persona. Necessary Beauty premiered on October 1st in Columbus, Ohio at the The Ohio State University’s Mershon Auditorium stage. Barbara Zuck, of the Columbus Dispatch says, “Like the work overall, the choreography functions on several levels. Miller's style is changed somewhat in this work. Though her signature movement vocabulary is still very much in evidence, it is far less heavy-handed, less brutal than one is accustomed to seeing in her pieces. It is subtle and reserved, lending the piece a look of unaccustomed elegance.”

Dancers free-spirited release and passion enable fluid yet stark choreography. Arms fling and twitch while feet and knees cling to the floor, sturdy in every way possible. Her sectionized choreographic gestures reveal an inner struggle while accurately depicting an order behind the chaos. Miller’s set often changes, open doors imply ideas to the past and future, chairs insinuate some sort of comfort level within a home, and frames are projected, which contain bitter and sweet memories. Spoken text successfully breaks through the congruence of unison, leaving behind a trail of individual beauty. Her world informs ours, and we watch with wonder and awe. She has done it again.

Other notable choreographers perform with Miller, including Kristina Isabelle, director of Kristina Isabelle Dance Company and High Jinks Productions, in Columbus, Ohio; and Kathleen Hermsdorf, choreographer and performer living in San Francisco. Please visit dancetheaterworkshop.org for ticket information or bebemillercompany.org to research the company’s history and their vision for this groundbreaking work.