"Chasing The Bird"

I checked out Jason Samuels Smith's homage to Charlie Parker, Chasing The Bird at The Joyce Theater last Friday evening.  The show was in three parts;  "Imagine" with Jason doing extended solos, then Michelle Dorrance, Chloe Arnold and Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards doing dancing excerpts from Jason's 2009 piece "Charlie's Angels" and finally Baakari Wilder, Zakiya Young and Frank Harts joining them for "Chasing The Bird" with dance, song and text.  It's the last segment that appears to be the beginning of a longer piece.  The whole evening was sort of a work in progress.

I enjoyed the evening and can see where it can be improved and developed.  I had a front row seat to the side (that's where the $10 tickets are!) with "partially obstructed view" which I didn't mind because, even though I would not be able to see the dancers' feet all the time (particularly the more upstage they got), I liked being up close to see the faces of dancers and get an interesting perspective on the show.   At one point, as Jason was really getting into it, I could see the sweat dripping of his face with a huge shadow of him cast to his side on the stage left wing curtains as his mom, Sue Samuels, watched the show off stage by those curtains.  I focused on the faces of Michelle, Chloe and Dormeshia as they watched each other and interacted in their segment.  All I could see of Theo Hill (musical director of the show) was his head moving enthusiastically as he played piano and conducted the band (Plume, Carlos Abadie, Ryan Berg and Kyle Poole).  When Baakari came out as the "Maestro" in the last segment of the evening, I spent a bit of time just watching him "oversee" the proceedings even when he was not performing or talking.  Because I know just about everyone in the show, having this more intimate view made me enjoy the show in a personal way.  It was nice seeing a bunch of talented people putting their full energy into something, executing it well and most importantly...being themselves on stage.

Jason is one of a group of tap dancers who are globally trying to stretch the boundaries of the art form by taking chances in their work.  I just find it frustrating that there are not as many opportunities for this to happen.  That a place like the Joyce has its one tap dance company of the season, but multiple modern companies.  Jason talked about this issue when he receive his Dance Magazine award a few years ago.

Anyway, the summer of tap continues at this moment with Tap City happening in NYC until this Friday.  In addition to the classes being held, yesterday was its "Copasetic Boat Ride", tomorrow awards will be given out (honorees include Jason, Max Pollak, Cobi Narita and Jacqui Malone), and Friday will the "Tap It Out" performances.  See the link to American Tap Dance Foundation in "Tap Related Websites" on the right for more Tap City details.

Here is a video about Jason's residency at the Joyce where he developed "Chasing The Bird"