Improvisation,
structured or free, in dance or in music, can seem anarchic and
sloppy or spontaneous and marvelously alive. Patricia Nicholson, who
is married to William Parker, a jazz musician, has long been
fascinated with dance (more or less improvised) married to jazz
(more or less improvised). Her Vision Collaboration Nights are
devoted to just that; this year's installment closed a
four-performance run at Performance Space 122's downstairs theater
on Sunday.
Each evening offered various works centered -- in the order seen
on Sunday -- on the dancers Yoshiko Chuma, Stephanie Skura and Ms.
Nicholson. The first three nights ended with a jazz improvisation;
on Sunday there was an all-star improv gala with all the dancers and
all the musicians.
The dancers in question, and some of their dancer collaborators,
represented a kind of reunion of stars of the downtown New York
scene of the 1980's, some of them now living in far-off places. The
sense of nostalgia was augmented by films showing New York back
then, often in decay.
To my taste, neither Ms. Chuma, with Sarah Skaggs and Donald
Fleming, accompanied by Joe Morris on guitar, nor Ms. Nicholson and
her group PaNic (which comprises Kevin Bachman, Jacqueline Lorenzi
and Osamu Uehara) looked particularly fresh. Ms. Nicholson's calm
presence in the background, as her younger partners exerted
themselves downstage, did have a nice poignancy.
In her piece ''Slice,'' Ms. Skura was partnered on stage by Bruce
Haedt, who played guitar and synthesizer and danced a little, in an
appealing hangdog fashion. Both spoke. It sounds dated, but it
looked inventive, proving that personality can shine in this kind of
situation.
The all-star jamboree sort of petered out, and the music seemed
deferential to the dance. But there was a riveting trio for Ms.
Chuma, Ms. Skura and Ms. Skaggs and a duo almost as good for Mr.
Fleming and Mr. Bachman. When improvisation works this well, it more
than redeems any potential self-indulgence. On Sunday it even
recalled the glory years of the Grand Union, the all-time all-stars
of the New York improvisation scene.
Published: 02 - 22 - 2005 , Late Edition - Final , Section E ,
Column 3 , Page 5
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