AN EXERCISE IN JUBILATION
In the midst of a Trump takeover of The Kennedy Center, thank goodness one production wasn’t canceled or withdrawn from the roster. I’m talking about Kennedy Center Honoree Twyla Tharp’s Diamond Jubilee modern dance tour. The iconic choreographer is celebrating 60 years of impeccable dance.
With astounding dancers equipped with strength, talent, grace, and ingenuity, Tharp, now 83 years old, has remounted a major Beethoven work, Diabelli, from 1998, and created a major new Phillip Glass-inspired dance titled SLACKTIDE. Both scores feature live music. Russian pianist Vladimir Rumyantsev plays Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations and Third Coast Percussion performs Glass’s Aguas da Amazonia.
Both pieces expand the boundaries of ballet and modern dance but vary widely from each other.
Kyle Halford, Oliver Greene-Cramer, Renan Cerdeiro, Alexander Peters, Reed Tankersley
Marzia Memoli, Oliver Greene-Cramer, Daisy Jacobson,
Miriam Gittens, Renan Cerdeiro, Nicole Morris
The Olivier Award-nominated work, Diabelli, features 10 dynamic performers dancing to Beethoven’s 33 variations on a waltz. Tharp’s choreography moves effortlessly from ballet to jazz to modern, with unexpected bits of social and street dance. Diabelli is full of whimsical fun, humor, and playful movements. The dancers adorn black and white tuxedo-themed unitards designed by American fashion designer Geoffrey Beene. They point and flex their feet depending upon the mood, move via pairings, trios, and larger ensembles, and dance through repeated themes – some serious, some frivolous; some delicate, others fast and furious. Sometimes the dancers stand out on their own, other times they move in unison. The choreography is incredibly technical and precise with intricate lifts, but the performers make it look effortless, inviting the audience to sit back, relax, and let the emotions wash over them.
SLACKTIDE
For the second half of the program, almost two centuries later in music and spirit is the shorter SLACKTIDE, a piece inspired by Philip Glass’s Aguas da Amazonia. Third Coast Percussion performs Glass’s ethereal score on a unique collection of custom-designed percussion instruments, with guest flutist Constance Volk. The dramatic, more serious piece, plays with different colored backdrops and lighting (by Justin Townsend) that sometimes create striking silhouettes and other times light up the stage and its performers. Dancer Mariza Memoli takes center stage in much of this piece—especially during the finish that reaches an exhilarating crescendo—in an incredible show of strength, technicality, and radiating pure joy.
The entire evening was a mixture of pure rapture and insightful reflection on the human spirit. Tharp’s works are iconic and not to be missed.
SLACKTIDE (photos by Studio Aura)
unless noted, photos by Christopher Duggan
Twyla Tharp Dance 2025 Diamond Jubilee
ends on March 29, 2025
for tickets, call visit Kennedy Center
for more shows, visit Theatre in DC
