Chamber Dance Project Open Rehearsal

Robert Abrams
May 19, 2003

Great art derives much of its power from its honesty. There is nothing more honest than a rehearsal. The Chamber Dance Project displayed such honesty today with an open rehearsal for patrons of the company. Anyone who had supported the company with a donation of $250 or more was invited to a two hour rehearsal in which the company worked on several dances. Some of the dances were nearing completion. The audience was able to view them as finished works. Others are still in development. The audience was able to see how a choreographer works with dancers to build a dance out of movement ideas. The company even demonstrated some of the differences between classical and contemporary ballet partnering. For instance, classical ballet has a vertical form, partly because the vertical line is an ideal, and partly because when the form originated, the women all wore corsets which restricted their movements in specific ways. The audience even learned that break dancing has a form which is similar to classical ballet, just flipped upside down. This is the sort of observation that is probably making you think, "Yeah right," but the demonstration by the dancers made the connection plausible.

This open rehearsal reenforced the idea that the Chamber Dance Project is both talented and accessible. If you want to be a patron of the arts at a reasonable cost for good value, the Chamber Dance Project is worth a look.

Get a ticket for their upcoming season on May 28 and 29 at the Danny Kaye Playhouse and decide for yourself. The Chamber Dance Project can be reached at www.chamberdance.org or 914-332-7762.