LehrerDance, Organically Athletic - Chicago Examiner
29/09/09 20:28 Filed in: LehrerDance Reviews
Chicago Examiner - 9.24.09
For more than a decade, jazz dance has been morphing into a new idiom that threads together contemporary, theatrical and street styles. Jon Lehrer - a dancer, choreographer and former associate director of Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago - has been a leading innovator in the field of grounded and well-crafted jazz-inspired eclecticism. He describes his aesthetic as "organically athletic" and, though his voice clearly emerges from classic-contemporary and theatrical jazz, Lehrer keeps his work fresh by consciously incorporating the unique skills, training and personalities of his dancers. Two years ago, he left Chicago to return to his home state of New York to establish LehrerDance. The Buffalo-based jazz-contemporary troupe will make its Midwest debut Sept. 26 at the Genesee Theatre in Waukegan.
"I'm always looking for ways to keep expanding on my choreography," says Lehrer. "I don't want every piece to look exactly the same."
Apart from his diverse musical interests (classic rock, singer-songwriters of the 1970s, hip-hop, classical music), he achieves this freshness by working with ensemble members who come from breakdancing, ballet, modern, contact improv and gymnastics backgrounds. So when Lehrer gives the dancers a phrase, he also asks each one how movers in those genres would execute it. His open-mindedness can be traced to the fact that Lehrer didn't begin dancing until the age of 19. His performing experience includes work with the modern Erick Hawkins Dance Company, Vegas-style revues and the boundary-less but entertaining Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago.
The Genesee Theatre engagement includes three Lehrer premieres: Fused by 8 mixes Bach's Brandenburg Concerto with hip-hop while maintaining the integrity of both. This piece closely reflects the dancers' varied artistic backgrounds. Trois is a sensual trio for two men and one woman that loosely suggests the trust and safety involved in letting one's guard down. Morphic Slip costumes two dancers in androgynous bob-sled unitards, then sends them on an intergalactic Twister-esque tangling and sliding across the floor. The catch is that they can use any body part, except their feet, to do the actual sliding.
Other works include Lehrer favorites Loose Canon, A Ritual Dynamic, The Way Within, and Bridge and Tunnel, his vivacious Jerome Robbins-like salute to growing up in Queens set to Paul Simon songs.
And despite all the stylistic maneuvering, Lehrer ultimately strives "to always keep the human element" present in his choreography - even if it involves a pair of aliens in bodysuits sparring with the floor.
LehrerDance performs Sept. 26 at 8 p.m. at the Genesee Theatre, 203 N. Genesee St., Waukegan. Tickets: $20-$36. Call 847-263-6300 or 800-982-2787 or visit www.ticketmaster.com. For more information: www.lehrerdance.org.
- Lucia Mauro
For more than a decade, jazz dance has been morphing into a new idiom that threads together contemporary, theatrical and street styles. Jon Lehrer - a dancer, choreographer and former associate director of Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago - has been a leading innovator in the field of grounded and well-crafted jazz-inspired eclecticism. He describes his aesthetic as "organically athletic" and, though his voice clearly emerges from classic-contemporary and theatrical jazz, Lehrer keeps his work fresh by consciously incorporating the unique skills, training and personalities of his dancers. Two years ago, he left Chicago to return to his home state of New York to establish LehrerDance. The Buffalo-based jazz-contemporary troupe will make its Midwest debut Sept. 26 at the Genesee Theatre in Waukegan.
"I'm always looking for ways to keep expanding on my choreography," says Lehrer. "I don't want every piece to look exactly the same."
Apart from his diverse musical interests (classic rock, singer-songwriters of the 1970s, hip-hop, classical music), he achieves this freshness by working with ensemble members who come from breakdancing, ballet, modern, contact improv and gymnastics backgrounds. So when Lehrer gives the dancers a phrase, he also asks each one how movers in those genres would execute it. His open-mindedness can be traced to the fact that Lehrer didn't begin dancing until the age of 19. His performing experience includes work with the modern Erick Hawkins Dance Company, Vegas-style revues and the boundary-less but entertaining Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago.
The Genesee Theatre engagement includes three Lehrer premieres: Fused by 8 mixes Bach's Brandenburg Concerto with hip-hop while maintaining the integrity of both. This piece closely reflects the dancers' varied artistic backgrounds. Trois is a sensual trio for two men and one woman that loosely suggests the trust and safety involved in letting one's guard down. Morphic Slip costumes two dancers in androgynous bob-sled unitards, then sends them on an intergalactic Twister-esque tangling and sliding across the floor. The catch is that they can use any body part, except their feet, to do the actual sliding.
Other works include Lehrer favorites Loose Canon, A Ritual Dynamic, The Way Within, and Bridge and Tunnel, his vivacious Jerome Robbins-like salute to growing up in Queens set to Paul Simon songs.
And despite all the stylistic maneuvering, Lehrer ultimately strives "to always keep the human element" present in his choreography - even if it involves a pair of aliens in bodysuits sparring with the floor.
LehrerDance performs Sept. 26 at 8 p.m. at the Genesee Theatre, 203 N. Genesee St., Waukegan. Tickets: $20-$36. Call 847-263-6300 or 800-982-2787 or visit www.ticketmaster.com. For more information: www.lehrerdance.org.
- Lucia Mauro