What's
Coming in 2011
ODU
Dept of Dance November Dance Concert
NOVEMBER
13-16, 2011
All shows at 8pm & Saturday
matinee at 2pm
Old
Dominion University Faculty Dance Concert
University Dance Theater 49th st. & Hampton Blvd.
Norfolk, VA -
-RTG Dance will be showing a solo choreographed by
Rachel Thorne Germond and danced by Megan Thompson.
Mnemonic (Under the Rainbow)
is a short solo about the experience of having
a memory of a specific place. It is slow moving at
times and at others shifts into restlessness with
quick precise movements. Critic Laura Molzahn of the
Chicago Reader described this solo as Òa perfect balance
of reserve and emotionÓ.
Choreography: Rachel Thorne Germond
Performer: Meghan Thompson (Associate Prof. at ODU)
Music: Wonderland Falling
------------------------------------
What's
Coming in 2012?
Sunday,
February 12,
2012
Sundays
at Three- 92nd St. YMCA- Barbara Mahler
Rachel Thorne Gemrond (RTG DANCE) will perform the
solo
Scarlett, I Dare Ya
(part of the evening lenght work titled Look at
Me)
Sunday
Feb. 12 @ 3pm
at
92nd St. Y's Harkness Dance Center Buttenwieser Hall
-
92nd St. YMCA
1395 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10128
For
tickets/info call 212 415 5500
------------------
See
the Press & Reviews from our last performances
in Chicago May 2010 at the Drucker Center:
May
24 Ð See Chicago Dance Website review by Tribune critic
Sid Smith:
RTG Dance A Wild Patience Has Taken Me This Far
By Sid Smith
http://seechicagodance.com/company/261#reviews
Turns
out that the RTG Dance performance over the weekend
at the Drucker Center will be the troupeÕs last for
a whileÐartistic head Rachel Thorne Germond will be
moving to Virginia for the next two years, joining
her partner, whoÕs earned a fellowship. Good for them,
bad for us. The modest, threadbare presentation over
the weekend, dubbed "A Wild Patience Has Taken
Me This Far," ably demonstrated GermondÕs inimitable
talents and appeal. She is a stern, unfancy, intellectually
enticing artist, tough in her aesthetic, though in
a more muted way than, say, Atalee Judy or Jonathan
Meyer. "Dance theater" is a buzz phrase
of the past couple of decades, but, at SundayÕs performance,
I kept thinking instead of "dance drama,"
in that Germond works in a purely abstract realm and
yet mines subtle conflicts and animosities inherent
in movement and ensemble configuration. She doesnÕt
tell stories, but she explores battles, alliances,
break-ups and betrayals, rarely relying on the traditional
beauties of flowing contemporary dance. Who her dancers
are touching at any given momentÐand whyÐare questions
that keep recurring, just as the ever-changing patterns
concern human will, control, isolation and even doom
much more than aesthetic confection. One compliment
a writer can pay her: While the viewer remains most
of the time compelled, wondering whatÕs next, her
work is very difficult to put into words. The four
dancers in "A Wild Patience," the only ensemble
piece on last weekendÕs fare, constantly change poses,
arrangements and affinities. They begin in two separate
pairs. Johannah Wininsky stands beside Celia Weiss
Bambara and repeatedly thwarts her ill-fated efforts
to move forward. At the other side of the stage, Becky
O'Connell watches ominously as Christopher Knowlton
threatens to crash himself into the brick wall. Escape,
whether real or suicidal, is only ineffectually restrained.
Much later, Germond crafts a nifty sequence in which,
one by one, each of the foursome gets isolated, one
at a time, so that formations of three vs. one keep
forming and changing in make-upÐeach, in his or her
turn, is outsider. ThatÕs the type of imagistic drama
that inhabits "Patience," which quickly
melds from set-up to set-up, from mini-drama to mini-drama,
with relentless propulsion. Rarely do these dancers
indulge in smooth, sweeping dance, though, when they
do, itÕs a relief akin to an oasis in a desert. ItÕs
not an overstatement to labe Germond uncompromising.
Her quartet in "Patience" is a motley crew,
by no means an assortment of gorgeous or dainty creatures.
In one of two solos on this same program, "Framed,"
Germond employs her own solid, earthy looks for a
kind of "No Exit"-like tone poem involving
a woman both partnering with and maybe trapped by
an empty picture frame. Here, Germond never utilizes
one of her own most appealing aspects, her vulnerable,
inviting mien and facial warmth. Instead, her face
remains rigid, even defiant, and "Framed,"
one component of what's intended to be a full-length
piece in the future, is austere, vogue-like in its
striking poses. She reclines along a diagonal line
with the frame at one point, at another she poses
with her hand on one hip, executing a brief series
of plies. Modest, like much of her work, evolving
quickly, changing every moment, it was rarely less
than intriguing. Our arts scene needs more, not less,
like Germond. So, we implore her, hurry back. Meanwhile,
God speed.
Reviewed
by Sid Smith on 05/24/2010 at 10:38 AM
photo
by Dan Merlo
Previews:
CriticÕs
Choice in the Chicago Reader
http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/Event?oid=1836667
ItÕs "the end of an era,"
says RTG artistic director Rachel Thorne Germond,
who's about to leave town for Virginia after nearly
a decade here. But itÕs also the start of a new one:
Germond has drawn on her experience teaching movement
to kindergartners to teach herself that simple moves
and a patient approach to choreography could pay off
for audiences. Two of the three works in "A Wild
Patience Has Taken Me This Far,"inspired by the
poetry of Adrienne Rich, are often plain and either
still or slow moving. TheyÕre also highly evocative.
GermondÕs 40-minute quartet, A Wild Patience, was
spun off from Fantastic Folk DanceÐa work-in-progress
begun in the fall of 2009Ðand carries over its approach
in pared down, almost ritualistic movement. Phrases
repeat, gather force, and gain new meaning, partly
through GermondÕs eclectic pastiche of recorded sound
and music, which veers from birdsong to experimental
electronic to mainstream techno. Allyson Esposito
dances GermondÕs solo This Is Where I Came From with
a perfect balance of reserve and emotion. I didnÕt
see GermondÕs solo Framed, which she performs herself,
but she describes it as having a "warrior feel."
ÐLaura Molzahn
Time Out Chicago CriticÕs Choice and Preview Article
by Zachary Whittenberg
http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/dance/85713/wild-patience-rachel-thorne-germond
Lucia Mauro -NPR Ôs 848
on WBEZ radio & spot on Examiner.com
http://www.wbez.org/Content.aspx?audioID=42087
Thanks
to everyone who made the show possible and who came
out to see our final Chicago performances.
Hats
off to you Chicago! :)
