The “smitten” party would be me. I’m smitten by a dance company — JazzAntiqua Dance & Music Ensemble, as it stages its thirtieth-anniversary celebration in an aptly named event, RITUAL OF RHYTHM. For anyone familiar with the choreography of Artistic Director Pat Taylor, the evening, produced in association with Ebony Repertory Theatre and Dance@theHolden, augurs great dancing to cool music (Taylor has historically featured live-on-stage jazz ensemble, this time not) before a receptive, tuned-in audience in the house. These shows are electric.
JazzAntiqua is among the very few dance troupes committed to the presentation of concert jazz dance and exploring the conversation between jazz music and movement. Founded in 1993, the company is living testimony to the paramountcy of jazz as a vital thread in the cultural fabric of African American history and heritage, and a defining element of the American experience.
As a choreographer, Taylor’s a mover. No swampy sentimentalism — only swanky slithering, smooth swirling, syncopated shapeliness. Look at those shapes! They are crooked yet elegant; off-kilter yet balanced; and dynamic in their stillness. Speed is not an issue, it’s an exigency. The dancers zoom across stage, while wearing secret shoes that seem to have a thin layer of glue applied. For Taylor brings her dancers from full motion to a screeching halt, there to enjoy a little shift of weight, hiccup in the body, tippy-toe balance, change of direction, thrust of arm in the air. Just as quickly they vanish. Watch what happens in the video below from 02:34 – 02:51. When the dancer in that snippet finishes her lovely solo and breaks into a sweet smile, that’s real. It’s the live art of dance you’re watching.
Respect and appreciation to George Simian for his superb dance photography on this page.
Ritual of Rhythm | JazzAntiqua Dance & Music Ensemble | Nate Holden Performing Arts Center | November 16
