The Joyce Theater’s eighth American Dance Platform runs from tomorrow through January 14. If you’re thinking, ‘Wow, there’s a lot going on that week!’ you’re correct, and I’ll tell you why: the premiere global performing arts conference, APAP/NYC, is happening at the same time.
This means professionals in the presenting, booking and touring industries from around the world will descend on Midtown Manhattan in search of camaraderie and fresh talent. It’s an important time to see and be seen, and The Joyce knows it. Their annual showcase shines a light on one guest curator who is given free rein to gather a group of dance artists from across the country and give them a, well, platform.
This year’s guest curator is Melanie George, a woman of many hats and a queen of many terpsichorean crowns. An educator, dramaturg, choreographer, scholar and the Associate Curator at Jacob’s Pillow, she specializes in jazz dance—both its history and the neo-jazz aesthetic—so it is no surprise that her program for The Joyce is jazz-heavy.
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“If we’re talking about American dance,” George told Observer, “jazz is our most indigenous postcolonial dance form. Jazz could only have happened in the United States… And it forms the foundation of what we know not only about social dancing in our country but also theatrical dancing. It informs all of it, and if I’m going to curate a program around American dance, jazz is absolutely going to be at the center.”
When George put together the program, she wasn’t focused on a central theme, but a question: ‘What do I want represented on this stage?’ She decided she wanted to both highlight a legacy company (Dallas Black Dance Theatre) and an emerging company (Soles of Duende) and produce a........