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A glimpse of the kinds of solos that helped Anna Sokolow
win her extraordinary reputation as a dancer and choreographer in
the 1930's and 1940's.
Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter (1945)
Music: Silvestre Revueltas
female solo, 5 minutes
"The soloist doesn't move from her spot...her formal salutations
define a danger zone, her tightly coiling maneuvers wind the bull
around her."
Deborah Jowitt, Village Voice, 1986
Ballad in a Popular Style (1936)
Music: Chick Corea
female solo, 3 minutes
"...a wistful, lyrical excursion into jazz, at once subtle
and exuberant, pure dance with no reason for being other than its
rhythm and beauty of motion."
Larry Warren, The Rebellious Spirit,
1986, Princeton Book Company
Kaddish (1945)
Music: Maurice Ravel
Reconstructed by Deborah Zall
female solo, 7 minutes
"Ms. Sokolow's gift for summing up loss and loneliness is
captured in 'Kaddish' with a searing simplicity and intensity."
Jennifer
Dunning, New York Times, 1986 |
A Short Lecture and Demonstration on the Evolution
of Ragtime (1952)
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Music: Ferdinand (Jelly Roll) Morton
2 dancers, 1 narrator, 1 pianist, 20 minutes
Atongue-in-cheek demonstration of the development of early jazz
dance, using Jelly Roll Morton's own words and music.
"'Ragtime' shows Sokolow's cutting sense of humor - it's a
laugh-out-loud send-up of two artistes demonstrating dance
steps to Jelly Roll Morton's thumping piano score with bombastic
seriousness."
Sarah Kaufman, The Washington Post,
1997 |
Lyric Suite (1953)
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Music: Alban Berg
6-8 dancers, 30 minutes
The dramatic merging of dance with Berg's exquisite, atonal musc
makes them seem inseparable. Yet the innovative choreography is
free from a close correlation with either meter or melodic line.
"...it speaks in abstract and stark simplicity, translating
the qualitative moods of the music into penetrating and evocative
movement designs. Superbly choreographed and thoroughly integrated,
its lyric beauty has a direct appeal to kinesthetic response."
Louis Horst, Dance Observer,
1954 |
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Music: Kenyon Hopkins
6-8 dancers, 50 minutes
"Rooms" deals with the psychic isolation and unfulfilled desires
of people living in the big city. The jazz score by Kenyon Hopkins
catches the pulse and beat of modern society. An enduring masterpiece
of twentieth-century art.
"Rooms is a powerful,
deeply penetrating exploration of man's aloneness...Miss Sokolow
has given her subject stunning theatrical treatment through movements
which are striking as pure dance action but also revelatory of
the individual dreams of each of the participants."
Walter
Terry, Herald-Tribune, 1956 |
Session for Six (1958)
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Music: William Catanzaro
6 dancers, 8 minutes
Set to the music of Brazilian composer, William Catanzaro, the
stage comes alive with handshakes, the Twist, Walk The Dog, and
the Microwave--Anna's tribute to the spirit of youth.
"...depicts at once the gaiety and swagger of youth, with
the dancers spinning self-absorbed in solitary circles."
Sarah Kaufman,
Washington Post, 1997 |
Photos: Johann Elbers (Lyric Suite, Rooms), Robin Meems
(Session for Six)
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