Sally-Anne Friedland Dance Drama Company

Sally-Anne Friedland Dance Drama Company in
Red
Photo by Gadi Dagon, courtesy 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Festival

Sally-Anne Friedland Dance Drama Company
92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Festival

Ailey Citigroup Theater, NYC

February 15, 2006

Reviewed by Rose Anne Thom

Choosing two dances choreographed by its founder/namesake, one that emphasized the “dance” in its name and the other the “drama,” the young, Tel Aviv-based Sally-Anne Friedland Dance Drama Company made its U.S. debut.

In the world premiere of Borders, to the accompaniment of Philip Glass’ score for the film The Hours, one male and five female dancers revealed themselves gradually. At first, the women, seen through shimmering, floor-length drapes, shifted slowly, stretching from one shapely, dramatic pose to the next. The printed program’s reference to ancient Greece was apparent in the women’s physicality as well as their tunics. As each distinguished herself, the transitions became more abrupt and the women ventured beyond their curtains, first two, then three, joining hands to form a five-figured, undulating sculpture. The man behaved with a robust self-assurance, alternating gestural posturing with taffy-like stretching of limbs and torso. As the dancing accelerated in tempo and the movement extended into the space, the curtains ascended one at a time, leaving the dancers increasingly exposed. The subtle exploration that signified each dancers’ individuality and tentative connection to the others throughout the work was contradicted by a rousing finale of presentational ensemble dancing that seemed to have no connection to the rest of the dance.

Red
(2004) exploited the dancers’ dramatic capabilities in a series of playful theatrical vignettes. Set to a musical collage that included Hughes Le Bars, The Tiger Lilies, and Astor Piazzolla, it expounds on romantic imagery, including red roses, red wine, and red tutus. Lola Fishbein and Shay Haramaty bouréed barefoot as conjoined ballerinas, then cavorted like acrobats on a barre positioned upstage. Nava Yaacobi’s contorted thrashing in black lace evoked a thwarted femme fatale, while Shimrit Golan played the vulnerable ingénue whether innocently tossing white handkerchiefs or as a puppet tied to strings manipulated by Oren Lazovski. Moments in Red revealed Friedland’s sense of the absurd, but she could not sustain her originality for the length of the dance.