3rd
Annual New York International Fringe Festival  **Awarded
Excellence in
Choreography**"Hommage `A Chopin" Dance Company Bettina Owczarek At the Henry Street Settlement Harry De Jur Playhouse (New venue and times) Reviewed by Antonio Sacre for Theatre Reviews Limited A beautiful solo pianist enters the stage and contemplates a score by Chopin. She sits at the grand piano and begins to play, emotionally engaging with the music with each successive passage. Soon young dancers enter, and in changing styles, examine through dance the life of Fryderyck Chopin. There are three parts. The first, "His music -- his love" centers around Chopin's creation process and his love for the French Novelist George Sand. By using five dancers, Owczarek is able to create wonderful pairings that fluidly, magically switch from person to person, using lifts, twirls, and throws that are thrilling to watch. There is a playfulness in the choreography that the five skilled young dancers are able to relish in, most evident in the very strong Dreams and Composition segments. At one point, Chopin (wonderfully dance by Alexander Sieber) creating a composition using the dancer's bodies, sets one of the dancers on his head and shoulder, leaving him there to hold on as long as possible. We delight in watching the dancer hold on for as long as possible. Later Chopin releases him into the movement, and we are released as well. And there is nothing at all wrong with watching two beautiful, young, half naked men and three beautiful, young, graceful women move as gracefully and gleefully as these five do, to the familiar and wonderful music of Chopin. "HOMMAGE A CHOPIN" Presented by the Dance Company Bettina Owczarek. Choreography by Bettina Owczarek. All tickets are $11.00. For information and reservations visit http://www.fringenyc.org |