Just saw Genesis, No! at DTW. I think this re-staging of Adrienne’s piece is a great example of why contemporary dance should be re-mounted.  (that’s a simplification, read Claudia LaRocco’s much more literate article in the Times).

I loved the piece when I saw it at PS122 last year and I loved it even more this time. In re-visiting the work, Ms. Truscott and her collaborators were able to  revise, edit & refine in ways that just aren’t usually possible in the downtown context. The entire piece cohered in a new and satisfying way, where before the hodgepodge of images and ideas seemed a result of the harried process, here it felt like a cohesive aesthetic. They trimmed the fat of the work and got down to the real essence of it.

In both they will use the highways and genesis, no! Ms. Truscott explores the possibilities of dance exploding everywhere. And in the context of DTW’s much larger and expansive space,  her playful sensibility makes that exploration even more surprising and exciting.

I don’t want to give any thing away, but anyone who is intimately familiar with downtown performances space will probably gasp and then laugh in recognition when the curtain goes up.

Also there’s a bit of meta-meta-meta art-within-life-within-art that I can’t share without giving the surprise away. If you know what/who I’m talking about, post it in the comments. If not, I’ll post it after the run is over…

Anyway – if you haven’t seen this piece, go see it.  Neal Medlyn, Carmine Covelli, Natalie Agee, Adrienne Truscott and a team of downtown all-stars make good!