Steve Pisano
Guese Dancer Clarence Brooks in 'Mourner's Bench'
Kanopy Dance Company shows great care whenever it shines a light on early modern dance works from icons like Martha Graham and Anna Sokolow. And it’s striking how revolutionary and current those works still feel. Madison audiences don’t often get to see live performances of these influential dance pieces, but this February Kanopy offers several rare treats.
In “Reflections + Dreams” at Overture’s Promenade Hall, Feb. 18–20, Kanopy tackles several Sokolow dances: two excerpts from Scenes from The Music of Charles Ives, Ballade and an excerpt from Magritte, Magritte, as well as a performance of the seldom-seen “Mourner’s Bench,” from Talley Beatty, a Black choreographer who studied with Graham and Katherine Dunham. A reworking of co-artistic director Lisa Thurrell’s moving Partita & Chorales rounds out the program.
“‘Mourner’s Bench’ is in the dancers’ oral tradition, passed down dancer to dancer, teacher to dancer,” says Thurrell. The piece is “almost a legend — talked about as one of the greatest works ever.” Thurrell herself saw it performed at the 92nd Street Y in New York many years ago. “It’s a beautiful, iconic dance,” she says.
The 1947 solo is taken from Beatty’s larger work, Southern Landscape, about the Ku Klux Klan, inspired by Howard Fast’s novel Freedom Road. It addresses oppression, struggle, and transcendence. It will be performed by renowned guest dancer Clarence Brooks (whose previous performance of this work was recorded for the archives of The Library of Congress).
Sokolow, a former dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company, often addressed issues of social justice and politics head on in her choreography, as well as creating unflinching explorations of the human condition. The Sokolow works in Kanopy’s program date from the late ’60s and early ’70s. “The Pond and the Cage” and “The Unanswered Questions,” both from Scenes from The Music of Charles Ives, were inspired by the work of the composer, as “The Lovers” is an excerpt from Magritte, Magritte and inspired by the paintings of Rene Magritte.
Thurrell says that the Great Depression and World War II “influenced some of Sokolow’s darkest works; she continued to dive into political and humanistic works…some with more hope and less darkness, but always uncompromising.”
Five guest artists from Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble in New York City will be performing along with Kanopy dancers. One guest is Brad Orega, a former Kanopy dancer.
“Sokolow dances demand an honesty of portrayal,” Thurrell says. “She was not at all interested in tricks, virtuosic feats, or how high the leg is or how fast the dancer moves. It’s all based on the dramatic intent coming from deep inside the person.”
While that’s not easy to do, Thurrell says, “our dancers embrace the challenge to do so and connect to the audience in that way.”
