TIMES UNION // By Tresca Weinstein //
Three very different dance companies hit the stage in the Capital Region this week, offering three distinct embodiments of the art form. The Mark Morris Dance Group, the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company and “Dancing with the Stars: Live!” are each gold standards in their own right. Not sure which one is the best fit for you? Here’s a quick guide to help you choose.
Mark Morris Dance Group
When he founded his company back in 1980, Mark Morris was known as a bit of a wild child, cleverly subverting and reinventing traditional notions of modern dance. In the decades since, the now-legendary choreographer has created a body of work that retains that winking sensibility along with a powerful emotional punch and a deeply satisfying visual symmetry. This is dance that will sometimes make you LOL and sometimes make your eyes damp, in part because of Morris’ unerring skill in pairing movement and music.
Thursday’s program at the Egg features four dances made between 2005 and 2021, including one of this writer’s favorites, “A Wooden Tree,” in which eight dancers dressed like schoolchildren cavort through Morris’ madcap versions of square dances, line dances and “London Bridge.” The most recent piece on the program, “Water,” is set to George Frideric Handel’s “Water Music” and was first staged at Brooklyn Bridge Park, with New York Harbor as the backdrop.
Pick this one if you like: postmodern art, Roz Chast’s “New Yorker” cartoons, the Talking Heads
Dancing with the Stars: Live!
“Dancing with the Stars: Live!,” a stage production based on the hit ABC show, is as slick, glitzy and crowd-pleasing as you’d expect it to be. Encompassing multiple ballroom styles and packed with spins, dips and acrobatic lifts, the show is a fast-paced, exhilarating ride. But it’s not all flash and dazzle—there’s real heart, soul and skill in this sequined spinoff.
While the TV series pairs professional dancers with non-dancer celebrities, the live version takes most of the amateurs out of the equation (a few will make special appearances later in the tour)—and subtracting the stars means the dancing gets that much better. Thursday’s ensemble is headed up by fan favorite Xochitl Gomez, winner of the show’s 2023 Mirrorball trophy, and pro dancers Val Chmerkovskey and Jenna Johnson.
Pick this one if you like: The Ice Capades, TikTok, “Bachelor” rose ceremonies
Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company
A pillar of the Capital Region dance scene for more than 30 years, the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Group is known for its innovative collaborations—with sculptors, scientists and visual artists, among many others. For Saturday’s performance, the troupe teams up with the Capital Trio (pianist Duncan Cumming, violinist Hilary Cumming and cellist Şölen Dikener), ensemble-in-residence at the UAlbany Performing Arts Center. The program includes the premiere of Sinopoli’s “Boundary Behavior,” exploring how both making and breaking boundaries informs movement.
The title of the new piece encapsulates something essential about Sinopoli’s approach to dance. Her choreography is both structured and organic, deftly shaped yet imbued with a sense of freedom, almost an improvisational quality. There’s often a meditative, yearning thread woven through the curving compositions, bringing to mind wheeling birds, waving grasses and clouds scudding through an open sky.
Pick this one if you like: nature documentaries, Himalayan salt lamps, the poetry of Pablo Neruda