Another Fall for Dance

Cassandra Trenary and Gandini Juggling, from the concluding performance of Fall for Dance this afternoon (Sept. 29). Sara Mearns, whose ankle was acting up, had been slated to dance Molissa Fenley's tour de force to Stravinsky's Rite of Spring "State of Darkness," but opted instead for the gentler "This Bitter Earth," by Christopher Wheeldon. She and her partner Tyler Angle were beautifully direct and present, with each other and the audience, momentarily overcoming my resistance to the duet's mawkish tone and score. (Alas, Max Richter.) Trenary, who replaced Mearns in "State of Darkness," was a beast, in the best possible sense. How she survived it, I'm not sure, but she danced with a ferocity combined with clarity that was hard to wrap one's head around. It is a punishing solo, one that maintains a constant level of intensity, force, specificity of shape, and inwardness for a full half hour. Trenary's dancing was so transparent that sometimes I felt we were seeing through her skin into her muscles, tendons, and bones. She received a well-earned ovation. Gandini performed a spoof of Pina Bausch's absurdist explorations of male-female dynamics, all while juggling oranges and small watermelons, "Smashed2." It's clever and sophisticated, if a bit over-long. (And how fun to see former Cunningham dancer Jennifer Goggans among the Gandini jugglers!) The only missed opportunity was Hans Van Manen's Four Schumann Pieces, a rather anodyne and wispy piece performed by the Dutch National Ballet. And another Fall for Dance festival draws to a close.