Review Rundown: The One With Dance & Art

NYC & Chicago go hard this week (THREE REVIEWS)

Review Rundown: The One With Dance & Art
Nejla Yatkin in ‘Ouroboros’ — Photo Credit: Enki Andrews

This week we’ve got three pieces — two in NYC and one in Chicago — that really moved the Review Crew.

Honestly: we love to see it.


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Photo: Alec Zbornak

An Atlas of Es Devlin — Cooper Hewitt
$22 per adult; New York, NY; Through 11 August, 2024

An Atlas of Es Devlin is a fascinating retrospective on one of the top immersive designers in the game — and an immersive experience in and of itself.

The exhibit, aligning with the publication of an art book by the same name, walks audience members through Devlin’s storied career as a stage designer. It explores her works ranging from touring concerts to walkthrough installations to U2’s most recent show at The Sphere.

Cooper Hewitt puts Devlin’s imaginative conception of space on full display through a multimedia presentation of rotating physical models, concept art, video installations, and projection mapping.

The exhibit itself feels like a Devlin piece, or perhaps the sketch of a Devlin piece. While learning about the artist’s process, guests wander through a network of uniquely cut, white walls (or are they human-scaled model foam boards?), filled with animated projections bringing her design methodology to life.

Perhaps the strongest part of the exhibition is the experience’s pre-show. Guests begin in a closed room representing Devlin’s studio. The space is filled with hand-cut models and a large center art desk littered with work in development.

As an introduction video starts to play, projections animate the space in a series of cuts, doodles, and artist notes, before the back wall opens up as an invitation to step into Devlin’s work and walk through her process.

The exhibit is called an “Atlas,” and quite purposefully so. An atlas is a collection of maps and charts that help explorers better understand and orient themselves around a space. And this exhibit, as a three-dimensional homage to one of the more prolific and avant garde immersive practitioners out there, helps the modern explorer understand and orient themselves in the labyrinthian world of Devlin.

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— Alec Zbornak, NYC Correspondent


Nejla Yatkin in ‘Ouroboros’ — Photo Credit: Enki Andrews

Ouroboros — Nejla Yatkin
$16 — $42; Chicago, IL; Run Concluded

In its Chicago premiere, Ouroboros is a live immersive, site-evocative dance-centric experience. While the production includes the work and efforts of many talented artists, the experience is the brainchild of choreographer and performer Nejla Yatkin. Running a little over an hour, Yatkin takes audiences on a deeply profound journey mixed with personal and international history examining the cyclical nature of humanity.

Starting with the origins of snake dancing and weaving its influences throughout history, Ouroboros slowly spotlights unintentional and malicious attempts at culture appropriation. But with the perseverance of people (like Yatkin) holding onto their culture, the true, good-natured, and positive connotations of snakes and the dance they influence not only flourishes but transcends history. Given this country’s current political climate, I greatly valued this celebration of diverse cultural stories highlighting how human culture is better when all histories are intertwined.

Yet, as Ouroboros’ message becomes unmistakably clear in the experience, it at times becomes variations on a powerful theme, constantly reiterating its important point. A touch of directionlessness occurs in the middle, Ouroboros’ point being well established. But in the finale, Yatkin drills down on her personal experiences, the messaging taking on a palpable, universally relatable depth for a satisfying ending.

Fueling this stunning piece is Yatkin’s amazing solo-performance. I’m pretty sure if you look up the definition of “triple-threat performer” her name would be listed. But that accolade doesn’t do Yatkin justice, as there’s an intense intimacy to her efforts. As she dances and moves throughout the space, it never feels removed as she’s constantly incorporating the audience in some fashion. Making fleeting eye contact with her fosters the weight of an intense, private one-on-one moment for me.

Another wonderful ever-present theme in Ouroboros is showcasing how dancing is more than an artform to be admired — it’s an organically universal way to create community. At one point, Yatkin starts a circle dance by randomly inviting audience members to join her. While she soon stops inviting people, others instinctively still join, the circle constantly growing. Having two left feet I elected to watch, allowing me to witness something magical. Eventually Yatkin leaves the circle, allowing the audience to keep going by themselves. And as the circle continually grows, some people start a smaller circle within the larger one. It was a beautiful, inspiring sight to behold, a diverse group of strangers laughing and cheering, moving together in pure harmony.

I’ve been told Yatkin hopes to tour Ouroboros, making it worthwhile to join her mailing list to see if it comes to a venue near you. I hope it tours, as Ouroboros is a truly restorative and utterly impactful experience encapsulating the importance of universality and community.

Patrick B. McLean, Chicago Curator & Remote Experiences Editor


Linked Dance Theatre’s ‘Winter’s Walk’ (source: Linked Dance Theatre)

Winter’s Walk — Linked Dance Theatre
$60; New York City; Through March 31

Your friend Win wants to talk. It’s implied to have been a while, and she wants to catch up. You can speak freely, your Winter’s Walk instruction email from Linked Dance Theatre says. If you’ve got tickets to this beautiful (and sold-out) show, I suggest you stop reading. I won’t spoil much, but it’s best if you go in on your back foot and entirely unaware.

Following the instructions in your email, you head to Central Park. Your headphones and phone are charged, and you’re wearing comfortable and warm clothes. After some back and forth via text, you meet… not your friend Win. Not-Win hands you a scrap of paper giving you the only concrete direction for your conversation, and points you, at last, toward your long-lost friend.

She greets you warmly. By name, in fact, because this show is for an audience of one. You walk around Central Park’s pond, and indeed you’re speaking freely. The conversation is guided, but not stilted. The direction it takes will be familiar mental and emotional territory to everyone, but especially to New Yorkers.

There is not much dance in this tenth anniversary production by Linked Dance Theatre. Nevertheless, there are several dance sequences, and they are truly lovely. The two performers move beautifully together, and the dances are an effective way of punctuating the conversation and giving you as the viewer time to reflect and breathe.

Perhaps this sounds slightly contrived and fictional. It is. But Winter’s Walk very cleverly leans into that in several ways during the production. This piece is very much in conversation with Linked’s previous work. What do you do when you feel stuck? How do you finish a work? This work is definitely a transitional piece, as befits the tenth anniversary. Whether it’s an epilogue or an interstitial is something I very much look forward to finding out.

New York City after the leaves fall is a different beast altogether than New York City in full bloom. The city holds its breath and basks in dramatic light. Ferlinghetti knew it: the city transitioning to winter is where he “first fell in love with unreality […] in the semi-gloom” in A Coney Island of the Mind. Likewise, Winter’s Walk invites you to fall in love with unreality, and you’d do well to heed the invitation from an old friend that never was.

— Penelope Ray, NYC Correspondent


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