Jacob’s
Pillow could be thought of as a Tanglewood for dance. Nestled in the Berkshires, it hosts some of
the world’s top troupes for workshops, master classes, and site-specific commissions. Many of the regular visiting artists discus the
institution’s significance and perform to appreciative audiences in Ron Honsa’s
Never Stand Still: Dancing at Jacob’s
Pillow (trailer
here), which
opens this Friday in New York.
In
the dance world, the choreographers and dancers who have developed new work at
Jacob’s Pillow are about as big as it gets.
The audience is told as much by an authority like Bill T. Jones, who
serves as the film’s narrator. We also
hear from luminaries, such as Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, and former
Balanchine prima ballerina Suzanne Farrell, now leading a company specializing
in mounting her mentor’s lesser known work.
However, some of the freshest commentary (and performances) comes from
MacArthur genius, dancer, and clown: Bill Irwin.
Never Stand Still
is
a pretty straight forward performance documentary, punctuated with
appreciations for the institution founded Ted Shawn at the Hawthornesque New
England farm. That does not provide much
drama or controversy to analyze, but for dance connoisseurs, it delivers the
goods. Farrell’s company is indeed present
preparing a new work, but arguably the most striking (and appealingly rhythmic) performance is Gamaka, an extended solo piece
by Shantala Shivalingappa.
A
master of Indian Kuchipudi dance, Shivalingappa was also a featured dancer with
Pina Bausch’s company. The film’s
producers are no doubt hoping some of Pina’s
specialty box office gold rubs off on it.
While nowhere near as visually arresting as Wim Wender’s remarkably
crafted film, Never Stand Still's
standard 2D serves the choreography well enough. Yet, like Wenders, Honsa also has the good sense
to largely step out of the way of the impressive performances.
