Dancing Directors
In each of these videos, we see the company director onstage along with their dancers. There are few other common threads, however, as we can witness a variety of ways in which these directors choose to show themselves.
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Rennie Harris Puremovement
Nuttin' But a Word, 2023
Rennie Harris appears larger-than-life onscreen throughout this work, while he can be seen dancing with his company members in P-funk, recorded here in 2005.
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The Hood Lockers
Shuckin' n Jivin' on Rt. 130, 2023
Company directors Andrew Ramsey and Marcus Tucker (aka Riot and Epic) are fully woven into their company here, performing as part of the Pillow’s 2023 Hip Hop Across the Pillow celebration.
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SOLE Defined
Body Language, 2023
Since founding the company in 2011, Quynn Johnson and Ryan Johnson continue to display their knowledge of percussive dance as performers with their ensemble from its base in Washington DC.
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Paul Taylor Dance Company
Concertiana, 2019
After taking over the directorship of the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Michael Novak continued performing this role in Taylor’s final work where he seems to step out of the crowd—perhaps anticipating his own ascendancy.
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Caleb Teicher & Company
Bzzz, 2019
The prodigiously talented Caleb Teicher functions as just another member of the group here, though the shock of white hair on his forehead makes him easy to spot.
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Seán Curran Company
Folk Dances for the Future (Traditional Methods/Postmodern Techniques), 2004
Seán Curran gives himself one humorous solo moment in this excerpt, but we otherwise see him here as part of two different trios—combining the forms of Irish step dancing and contemporary dance in his own inimitable way.
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Doug Varone
The Bench Quartet, 2003
Surrounding himself with fellow dancers of his own generation, Doug Varone programmed this early work as part of a unique evening of chamber dances that he designated as “Doug Varone’s Short Fictions.”
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Rosy Co.
Chinoise Flower, 2000
Choreographer Kota Yamazaki places himself among nine other performers who careen through the stage space with alarming speed, constantly shifting the focus through overlapping entrances and exits.
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Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE
Water, 1999
Brown positions himself as the most visible dancer in a lineup at the start of this clip, but he soon blends into the group as the movement begins.
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JAZZDANCE by Danny Buraczeski
Swing Concerto, 1995
Watch for Danny Buraczeski’s entrance as the middle dancer in a group of three who enter about halfway through this clip, and you won’t be able to take your eyes off him after that!
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Mal Pelo
Sur-Perros del Sur, 1992
Company co-directors Pep Ramis and María Muñoz are the performers seen screaming at each other in this clip, while the work’s third performer hangs from a rope.
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Halau Hula O Hoakalei
Aia Molokaʻi Kuʻu Iwa, 1990
Throughout most of the performance, Helen Hoakalei Kamau’u was tucked among the musicians behind the greenery, but she ventured into center stage for this special encore.
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Trisha Brown Dance Company
Lateral Pass, 1986
While Trisha Brown is the lone dancer who remains visible when the curtain closes in a theatrical coup, each dancer here is seen as a distinct individual with his or her own trajectory.
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Solomons Company/Dance
Steps #9: Raw Meet, 1985
Just as Ken Schafer’s music kicks in and a trio of dancers exits, Gus Solomons jr literally takes over the stage, showing off his impossibly long limbs.
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Charles Moulton Dance Company
Display, 1981
There is no apparent hierarchy among these three dancers, aside from the fact that one of them is the choreographer whose name is on the company.
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Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Septet, 1955
Cunningham himself can be seen here darting about the stage in a dark leotard, from his company’s Pillow debut in 1955.