Night one and night two are here. After a few days off, we were back to Fall for Dance at New York City Center. This was the first of our two dance lessons (we would miss the other three because of the nights we chose). We were going to learn some hip-hop moves from the artistic director of JAM ON THE GROOVE 3 for 30. He taught us to pop and lock and two different waves. There were also some foot moves in there. Do not ask me to show you. I could not do them well then and I certainly cannot do them now. But it was a lot of fun trying to do the moves. Our teacher seemed to be having a lot of fun also and our large of group of mostly middle-aged women were having a ball.

Joining me for nights one and two were rtb and her sister. Night three was rtb and peg. Night four was rtb, her sister, and peg and the last night was rtb and her sister.

Since I was there early for the lesson, I was able to take a photo of the sidewalk without a crowd.

Later we referred to this night as bare-chested night because (obviously) a lot of the dancers were bare-chested. Also, except for a few women dancing hip-hop and one female ballet dancer, it was a night of male dancers.

First up was the Houston Ballet dancing Clear. Photo by Lawrence Elizabeth Knox of Houston Ballet Principal Connor Walsh and the Houston Ballet taken from the 2023 Fall for Dance page.

Artistic Directors: Julie Kent and Stanton Welch AM

Choreographer: Stanton Welch AM (for Mark)

Music: Johann Sebastian Bach

Costume Designer: Michael Kors

Lighting Designer: Lisa J Pinkham

Stage Manager: Jonathan Moore

Premiere: October 25, 2001 at American Ballet Theatre, New York City Center, New York, NY

Dancers: Eric Best, Naazir Muhammad, Harper Watters, Yuriko Kajiya, Simone Acri, Rench Soriano, Song Teng, Jack Wolff

All the dancers had excellent physiques. Dancing is brutal and these men had abs of steel as did the one woman, who wore a bandeau top. Everyone was wearing knit flare pants. This was another bare stage with some lighting effects on the floor. The moves were classic ballet with ensemble dancing together, duets, and triples. Sometimes the woman would enter and would be twirled around by each man and then leave. The last section was a pas de deux. Principal dancer Connor Walsh danced the night before, so we missed seeing him but we certainly did not miss anything because Best was excellent as were all the other dancers.

All the YouTube links after each dance summary is a trailer or piece of the dance above: https://youtu.be/rni5zinad6E?si=K2nqzlP_KYIL895j

The second dance was JAM ON THE GROOVE 3 for 30’s Concrete Jungle | Portrait of a Freeze | Moments in Motion.

Photo of Adesola Osakalumi from the 2023 Fall for Dance page.

Artistic Director: Adesola Osakalumi

Choreographer: Ghettoriginal Productions Dance Co

Additional Choreographer and Staging: Adesola Osakalumi

Music: Steffan “Mr Wiggles” Clemente & Antoine “Doc” Judkins

Historian & Archival Consultant: Jorge “Fabel” Pabon

Costume Styler: Naana Badu

Lighting Designer: Kate Ashton

Production Manager: Michele Byrd-McPhee

Premiere: November 7, 1995 at Minetta Lane Theatre, New York, NY

Dancers – Concrete Jungle: Victor “Kid Glyde” Alicea III, Jonathan “Jon Locke” Amable, Noah “Noahlot” Catala, Ivan “Heat Rock” Cofield, Jai’Quin Coleman, Anthony “YNot” Denaro, Carmarry “Pep-C” Hall, Sammy “Samo” Soto, “Brooklyn” Terry Wright

Dancers – Portrait of a Freeze: Victor “Kid Glyde” Alicea III, Anthony “YNot” Denaro, Carmarry “Pep-C” Hall, Sammy “Samo” Soto

Dancers – Moments in Motion: Jonathan “Jon Locke” Amable, Noah “Noahlot” Catala, Ivan “Heat Rock” Cofield, Anthony “YNot” Denaro, Sammy “Samo” Soto, “Brooklyn” Terry Wright

One of the fun things about having a dance lesson is you can watch the dancers for the moves you were taught. There was popping and locking, waves, freestyling, and breakdancing – both ensemble and individual. The first dance had a storyline of the dancers trying to find a place to dance and the cops constantly breaking them up until finally there is a shooting by the cops. The second dance was a lot of breakdancing with everyone in track suits. The third dance had the men bare-chested in harem pants and repeating moves, one slower than the other.

https://youtu.be/WxaLZAc6lsc?si=KXEs41bGG3KZgoyj

The last piece was one of the few non-Western dances this season. Kaleoolakaikahikinaokalā performed the world premiere of Hawaiki (The Homeland).

Photo by Kevin Ulep of Kaleoolakaikahikinaokalā taken from the 2023 Fall for Dance page.

Artistic Director: Kaleo Trinidad

Choreographer: Kumu Hula Kaleo Trinidad with Randie Kamuela Fong, Kumu Maiki Aiu Lake, Kumu Edith Kanaka’ole, Holoua Stender & Traditional

Costume Designer: Kumu Hula Kaleo Trinidad

Lighting Designer: Kate Ashton

Stage Manager: Lori Wekselblatt

Dancers: Nihiku Aikau, La’akea Awong, Jessie Bright, Isaiah Ching, Kalala Felix, Tannon Iaea-Kim, Joseph Lindsey, Kyle Lindsey, Kalehua Mabini, Devin Nakahara, Dylan Nakahara, Danson Oliva, Dylan Oliva, Joey Palupe, Trajan Satta-Ellis, Kalama Souza, Gabriel Spencer, Kumu Hula Kaleo Trinidad, Heiari’i Weza

Musician: Kumu Hula Kaleo Trinidad

The musicians were upstage and they only list one musician but after the initial song, the singer and one musician joined the dancers, leaving one musician playing different drums – one tall drum and one that looked like a big gourd. There were also small drums wrapped around one thigh of the other two before they danced. Occasionally there was some spoken English as a voiceover translating the lyrics the troupe was singing. Even without the translation, it was easy to tell that they were singing about home. The men had large pieces of orange and yellow cloth wrapped around their waists and tied up like a big bow. They had green wreaths around their heads and beads and greens around their necks and ankles. There was a lot of hip action. Some of the dancers had tribal tattoos across their chest and/or arms and/or down their legs. During one dance there were three risers upstage, and one dancer wobbled while squatting, he left the stage, and later re-entered joining the ensemble in the middle of the next part of the dance. Of course, I got to wondering what happened.

This is another dance: https://youtu.be/3cX_gWZztvY?si=MwwzD0spZIW-ylV