Kyr
I almost forgot to share Marcia Siegel's review of Minus One and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal. I think the oversight has something to do with basking in the glow of something that seemed to provoke an almost unanimous positive reaction in audience, staff, board - anyone that witnessed a performance of it. We are proud to have presented this show; and I can now say "we" comfortably because nearly everyone associated with our organization seems to have weighed in.
Maybe I'm not looking for some kind of validation from Marcia or any reviewer for this engagement the way I might have for other previous engagements. I know it was good. But that doesn't make Marcia's comments (or Thea Singer's or anyone else's) less relevant. Here is her take on Kyr, the segment of Minus One danced to “Ehad Mi Yodea,” the piece whose recording by Tractor's Revenge I have finally found after considerable searching:
"I think the dance to an Israeli counting
song, “Ehad Mi Yodea,” is Naharin’s masterwork of choreographic design
and physical surrender. Twenty men and women in identical black suits
and white shirts occupy a circle of chairs. The music is ferocious,
propulsive. In unison, the dancers rear back, crash to the floor, stomp
onto the chairs, adding an explosive gesture every time the recorded
male chorus inserts a new line. The effect is stunning. On the last
verses they tear off their clothes piece by piece and throw them into
the center. It’s like some feverish ritual offering or purification."
So here, a little late, is where you can find Marcia Siegel's review of Minus One.
