{"id":31731,"date":"2016-01-26T00:17:46","date_gmt":"2016-01-26T06:17:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=31731"},"modified":"2016-01-28T12:11:28","modified_gmt":"2016-01-28T18:11:28","slug":"31731","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/31731\/","title":{"rendered":"Northwest Dance Project Brings Original Works from Emerging and Established Choreographers to Salt Lake City"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"pokorny\"<\/a>

Northwest Dance Project in \u201cAt Some Hour You Return\u201d by Jiri Pokorny<\/p><\/div>\n

Portland-based contemporary dance company Northwest Dance Project<\/a> had its Salt Lake City debut at the University of Utah\u2019s Marriott Center for Dance (programmed by Utah Presents<\/a>, formerly Kingsbury Hall Presents). NWDP currently employs nine dancers, and consistently features the work of various international guest choreographers. On the program for Salt Lake were works by Felix Landerer (currently choreographer in residence at Scapino Ballet Rotterdam), NWDP artistic director Sarah Slipper, Jiri Pokorny (choreographer in the Netherlands\/Prague, formerly with Kidd Pivot), and Ihsan Rustem (a Switzerland-based choreographer, and currently NWDP\u2019s choreographer in residence).<\/p>\n

The program opening was strong. In Landerer\u2019s \u201cWhat We\u2019ve Lost on the Way\u201d four dancers strode purposefully toward the audience and then back again as their outstretched arms coincided with static eruptions in the score. Since the stage was lit by a lowered lighting truss and upstage was dark, each time the dancers marched forward, it was as though they were emerging for the first time. The dancers slid through buttery floorwork, belying the strength it certainly required. While repetition of structure became predictable toward the piece\u2019s end, each iteration took place with a clarity of purpose that made it satisfying to drink in yet again. A moment in a woman\u2019s solo resonated uniquely: she lay on her back, her legs dangling skyward like noodles as she looked curiously up at them. While the rest of the piece featured more physical demands, this brief repose was a contemplation on the limbs that were previously in endless motion. On a costuming note, the dancers\u2019 socks (presumably an aesthetically-driven choice) did not seem to allow them the groundedness needed for all the deep, wide fourth positions, among other choreography, that the piece demanded of them.<\/p>\n

Slipper\u2019s \u201cMemoryHouse\u201d and Rustem\u2019s \u201cState of Matter\u201d felt less singular in some of their choices. Both felt structurally unclear at times, and the choreography, while expertly executed, lacked memorable choices. \u201cMemoryHouse\u201d was at best a trite exploration of a domestic partnership, and \u201cState of Matter\u201d meandered unsteadily alongside a poem about clouds (while it did feature a striking opening scene with limbs dangling down below a black curtain that hovered several feet above the stage).<\/p>\n

Strongest on the program was Pokorny\u2019s \u201cAt Some Hour You Return.\u201d The lights flashed on to reveal an empty stage lit with a blue-white wash, a truly striking image which elicited an audible reaction from the audience. Then a series of magical blackouts took place, lights coming on between to reveal different groupings of dancers (that took place both extremely quickly and with total silence). Eventually a sextet of three male and three female dancers was revealed; each was clad in black, including black sneakers, which was a welcome change both visually and for movement capability. Pokorny\u2019s choreography had a quirky edge, featuring motifs such as holding hands up to heads like antlers; other grounded, swift shifts also possessed an animalian quality. Throughout, Pokorny\u2019s vocabulary felt original and constantly fresh. Structurally the piece shifted through a series of vignettes, bookended by savvy lighting choices, and thus achieved an unpredictability of arc. \u201cAt Some Hour You Return\u201d was a piece I would have liked to watch several times over.<\/p>\n

Northwest Dance Project lives up to one of its founding initiatives: fostering the creation of original works from both established and emerging choreographers. While Rustem\u2019s work has been showcased by NWDP, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Whim W\u2019him, among some other festivals, his is still a fairly new name; \u201cAt Some Hour You Return\u201d was Pokorny\u2019s North American choreographic debut; Landerer\u2019s accolades also include solely European companies and productions. While some pieces may have felt more finely tuned, it was refreshing to see an an evening of largely unfamiliar works and names. As written by Hubbard Street dancer Benjamin Wardell in his poem featured in \u201cState of Matter\u201d, \u201c\u2026like clouds, we are blind to our own perspective\u201d; perhaps the continual introduction of so many new perspectives by companies like NWDP will continue to enlarge our own.<\/p>\n

This review is published in collaboration with loveDANCEmore.org<\/a>.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Pictured: Northwest Dance Project in \u201cAt Some Hour You Return\u201d by Jiri Pokorny<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Portland-based contemporary dance company Northwest Dance Project had its Salt Lake City debut at the University of Utah\u2019s Marriott Center for Dance (programmed by Utah Presents, formerly Kingsbury Hall Presents). NWDP currently employs nine dancers, and consistently features the work of various international guest choreographers. On the program […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1521,"featured_media":31732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[2737,2277,2742,2739,2740,2738,2741],"class_list":["post-31731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dance","tag-benjamin-wardell","tag-by-amy-falls","tag-felix-landerer","tag-ihsan-rustem","tag-jiri-pokorny","tag-northwest-dance-project","tag-sarah-slipper"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/pokorny.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-26 08:12:58","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31731"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31734,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31731\/revisions\/31734"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}