Contributed by Jonathan Stevenson / Last weekend in Brooklyn, for the tenth time, Norte Maar presented its unique and superlative CounterPointe dance-and-art performances. Each included seven dances, each of them a collaboration between a female choreographer and a female visual artist. Interpreting the programs is doubly subjective given that two main variables – dance and visual art – come into play. Yet salient themes do seem to emerge, this year arguably including creation and restraint, birth and death, social dynamics, the energy of solidarity, the suddenness and the brittleness of joy, the enchantment and peril of romantic love, and the opposition of the imperial and the pastoral. Previous iterations have manifested comparable breadth and depth.
Insightfully conceived, seamlessly integrated, and beautifully executed, the dances are all the more remarkable in that they are prepared, from the artist and choreographer’s initial consultation to a polished production, over the course of only two months. Julia Gleich – Norte Maar co-founder with Jason Andrew, originator and curator of CounterPointe, and choreographer – embraces a tough, hardnosed work ethic: the urgency of deadlines focuses hearts and minds. Every year, the intensity and spontaneity of the creative process carries winningly to the stage.
“CounterPointe10,” The Mark O’Donnell Theater at the Entertainment Community Fund, 160 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, NY. March 24–26, 2023. Featuring new choreographer/artist collaborations between Julia Gleich and Tamara Gonzales; Shannon Harkins and Sarah Pettitt; Tiffany Mangulabnan and Etty Yaniv; Sarah Yasmine Marazzi-Sassoon and Alejandra Seeber; JoVonna Parks and Jeanne Verdoux; Amanda Treiber and Marcy Rosenblat; and Eryn Renee Young with Amanda Browder.
