Sasha Okshteyn
Curator | Producer
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Madeline Hollander

Produced the commissioned live-work Review by artist and choreographer Madeline Hollander for Performa 2021. Worked closely with the artist and a cast of 25 professional dancers representing major New York companies to stage a live performance of “marking” gestures—short-hand rehearsal movements—drawing on cancelled productions during the pandemic.

American artist and choreographer Madeline Hollander collaborates with 25 professional dancers from New York’s iconic dance companies whose public performances were canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic shutdown. Using the dance world’s universal “marking” language, the short-hand gestures that dancers employ to run through choreography in rehearsals, as her material alongside the spatial blocking they use to outline the trajectory of their bodies, Hollander composes a performance that interweaves the choreographies of the canceled repertoires of each dance company on one stage. This new work titled Review is staged inside the Hamilton Fish Pool in Manhattan’s Lower East Side with the audience seated on opposite sides, offering a vantage point above the dancers to follow their choreographic patterns. After an eighteen-month hiatus in New York’s performance season, Review presents a history that never happened and an homage to the city’s dance communities.

Works Canceled or Indefinitely Postponed in Chronological Order
From March 2020 to Present:

West Side Story (2020), choreography by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. Broadway Theatre, March 12, 2020.

Groove and Countermove (2000), Set and Reset (1983), Working Title (1985), by Trisha Brown. Trisha Brown Dance Company. Manège, scène nationale (Reims, France), March 17-18, 2020; Le POC (Alfortville, France), March 21, 2020; Chaillot - Théâtre National de la Danse (Paris, France), March 25-28, 2020; Spoleto Festival USA (Charleston, South Carolina), May 29-30, 2020; La Rose des Vents, Scène nationale Lille Métropole (Villeneuve d’Ascq, France), April 1-3, 2020.

La Traviata (2020), choreography by Lorin Latarro. Metropolitan Opera. The Metropolitan Opera House, March 19, 2020.

Fiddler on the Roof (2016), choreography by Hofesh Shechter. National Tour. Fisher Theatre (Detroit, Michigan), March 20, 2020.

Cage Shuffle (2017), by Paul Lazar. Big Dance Theatre. The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, March 30 and 31st, 2020; Big Ears Festival (Knoxville, Tennessee), Spring 2020; La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, Winter/Spring 2021.

BOAT (2020), Whale (2015), choreography by Andrea Miller. GALLIM. BAM Fisher, April 2-5, 2020.

Deep Blue Sea (2020), choreography by Bill T. Jones. Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. Park Avenue Armory, April 13, 2020.
*Revived September 28, 2021

Sea (2021), choreography by Miro Magloire. New Chamber Ballet. City Center, April 17-18, 2020.

Night Journey (1947), by Martha Graham. Martha Graham Dance Company. City Center, April 23, 25, 2020.

Chronicle (1936), by Martha Graham. Martha Graham Dance Company. City Center, April 24, 2020.

Excerpts from Concerto Barocco (1941) ®, choreography by George Balanchine. New York City Ballet. City Center, May 20, 21, 23, 2020. © School of American Ballet.

Satyric Festival Song (1932), by Martha Graham. Martha Graham Dance Company. Martha Graham Studio Theater, June 4-7, 2020.

Diversion of Angels (1948), by Martha Graham. Martha Graham Dance Company.
Silicon Valley Festival, Hammer Theatre Center (San Jose, California), June 26-27, 2020.

Chaconne (1946), choreography by José Limón. No confirmed venue, Summer 2020.

Excerpts from Raymonda Variations (1961) ®, choreography by George Balanchine. New York City Ballet. City Center, October 8, 10, 15, 15, 2020. © The George Balanchine Trust

Excerpts from The Nutcracker (1954) ®, choreography by George Balanchine. New York City Ballet. City Center, November 27, 2020-January 3, 2021. © The George Balanchine Trust

Opulence (2019), by Jodi Melnick. The Joyce Theater, Summer 2021.

Untitled (2020), by Jodi Melnick. Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival (Becket, Massachusetts), Summer 2021.

Curated by Charles Aubin and produced by Sasha Okshteyn with Mariana Fernández

Performer Credits:

Ballet Masters:
Leah Ives is a member of the Trisha Brown Dance Company.

Amanda Kmett'Pendry is a member of the Trisha Brown Dance Company.

Lauren Newman is a former member of the Martha Graham Dance Company.

Performers:
Olivia Boisson is a member of New York City Ballet's corps de ballet.
Antuan Byers is a dancer at the Metropolitan Opera Ballet.
Misha Culver is a dancer at Graham 2.
Alexa De Barr is a dancer in the Broadway production of West Side Story.
Eloise DeLuca is part of the ensemble in the First National Tour of Fiddler on the Roof.
Megan Foley is a member of New Chamber Ballet.
Satori Folkes-Stone is a dancer in the Broadway production of West Side Story.
Michael Greenberg is part of the ensemble in the First National Tour of Fiddler on the Roof.
Ashley Hill is a member of GALLIM.
Paul Lazar is an actor, theater director, and the co-founder of Big Dance Theater.
Megan LeCrone is a soloist at New York City Ballet.
Meghan Manning is a dancer at the Metropolitan Opera Ballet.
Sara Mearns is a principal dancer at New York City Ballet.
Jodi Melnick is a choreographer, collaborator, dancer, and teacher.
Miriam Miller is a member of New York City Ballet's corps de ballet.
Nando Morland is part of the ensemble in the First National Tour of Fiddler on the Roof.
Rachele Perla is a member of New Chamber Ballet.
Sara Procopio is a dance artist and arts manager at Big Dance Theater.
Frances Samson is a member of the Limón Dance Company.
Savannah Spratt is a member of the Limón Dance Company.
Kevin Zambrano is a dancer in the Broadway production of West Side Story.
Huiwang Zhang is a member of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company.
Chime Master: Ben Trimble

Production Credits:

Senior Producer & Manager of Media Initiatives: Sasha Okshteyn
Performa 2021 Biennial Fellow: Mariana Fernández
Technical Producer/Sound Designer: Garth MacAleavey
Composer: Celia Hollander
Lighting Designer: Andrew Giugno
Original Garment Design: Anna-Sophie Berger
Costume Fabricator: Camilla Carper
Stage Manager: Caitlin Adams
Lighting Technician: Jules Fosforo
Audio Technician: Sharif Mekawy, Jack McGuire
Production Assistants: Justin Germek, Austin Brown
Technical Production: Crossfire

Funding Credits:

Review by Madeline Hollander is supported by Toby Devan Lewis, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, Sarah Arison, Melony and Adam Lewis, Yana Peel, Elise Jaffe and Jeffrey Brown, the Fleischner Family Charitable Foundation, and Bortolami Gallery.

Special Thanks:

Special thanks to NYC Parks, Anthony Sama, Jamil Phillips, Hamilton Fish Pool staff, Father Thomas and Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, Stefania Bortolami, Loreta Lamargese, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Wendy Whelan, Jon Stafford, Nicole Cornell, Janet Eilber, Bill T. Jones, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker.

The artist would also like to thank Sasha Okshteyn, Charles Aubin, RoseLee Goldberg, Anna-Sophie Berger, Celia Hollander, Sam Parker, Lauren Newman, Leah Ives, Amanda Kmett'Pendry for their endless support and commitment to making Review possible.