A tribute to Miles in dance

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A tribute to Miles in dance

For those who love jazz and dance, a perfect performance combining both art forms will be presented next week.
“Rosas,” a Belgian dance troupe, will perform Thursday through Saturday at the LG Arts Center. In a work titled “Bitches Brew/Tacoma Narrows,” the dancers perform to the beautiful music of legendary jazz musician Miles Davis such works as “Bitches Brew,” “Spanish Key” and “Sanctuary.”
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, the choreographer of the dance company, is noted for bringing modern dance to Belgium in the 1990s and making the country one of the world centers of that genre.
Ms. De Keersmaeker says the performance is largely inspired by Miles Davis’s music and the “Tacoma Narrows,” a bridge built in Washington state in 1940 that collapsed four months after it was completed as a result of strong winds and an earthquake.
The bridge’s shaking and collapsing is imitated by dancers while the dramatic actual footage of the bridge’s destruction is shown on a screen.
In addition to the unique dances, the set recreates the atmosphere of a jazz club in a lonely city. In an empty, smoky ballroom encased by shiny walls, there is a bar stool and a turntable. A disc jockey comes onstage and turns on Davis’s music. Slowly, dancers in light dresses appear.
As a drum starts, an electric piano plays. Later, a trumpet and other instruments join in. Without any particular pattern, dancers begin to move. Finally, the spotlight turns on, and the real show starts.
In the 90-minute performance, various styles of dance emerge, including disco, street dance, and break dancing.
Ms. De Keersmaeker says she tries to interpret the music of Davis through dance. In 1969, Davis made his seminal improvisation album “Bitches Brew” with 13 different musicians. In the same way, this performance has 13 dancers, each of whom dances to 13 different instruments.
“Bitches Brew/Tacoma Narrows” has been acclaimed throughout Europe, debuting in 2003 in Brussels, and later performed at the Holland Festival in Amsterdam, Impuls Tanz in Vienna and Theatre de la Ville in Paris.
This is the dance troupe’s first appearance in Japan and Korea.


by Choi Sun-young

Tickets range from 30,000 ($30) won to 70,000 won. For more information, call the LG Arts Center at 2005-0114 or visit www.lgart.com
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