Five women knelt in front of the shiny white carpet downstage — the sound of water running accompanied this — and in unison they peered down, as if looking into a stream. With a slow series of moves they seemed to be scooping up water, admiring themselves, lounging with their heads in the water and their hair spread out.
As the scenes changed, the women paced impassively through the space, or ran for their lives. Then the music moved into a two-note ostinato that reminded me of the snow scene in Petrouchka, and the women scudded into the space as if blown by a wind. Over the ostinato, a jazzy rhythm began, and for a moment I thought a celebration was in progress, but the dance ended in a growing darkness, with one woman coming forward and the others seated in a row, backs to the audience, hugging their knees.
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Review: Shepard Fairey + Z-Trip + Chuck D, Photos: Prefuse 73 at ICA, Sunday school, More 
- Review: Shepard Fairey + Z-Trip + Chuck D
So Shepard Fairey actually made it this time. No insane, last-minute sting operations by Boston cops lurking just off the ICA’s property line. But also: no grand dramatics, either. (Like, he totally could have parachuted through a shattered skylight. In slow motion.) Fairey just showed up and did his thing.
- Photos: Prefuse 73 at ICA
Photos of Prefuse 73 playing at the Institute of Contemporary Art
- Sunday school
Ronald K. Brown’s flamboyant choreography comes with a big serving of spirituality.
- Definitions
Boston Ballet’s artistic director, Mikko Nissinen, wants us to think of his company as utterly contemporary, but it’s a tricky balance to pull off.
- Snacks
The most substantial item in the assortment of dances by the Trey McIntyre Project last weekend was an oddly proportioned 20-minute meditation on climate change and Glacier National Park. McIntyre, whose company appeared at the ICA as part of the CRASHarts series, has gotten a lot of press exposure as an up-and-coming choreographer with serious ideas.
- Substrate
Zoe/Juniper at the ICA
- Year in Dance: Reusable histories & durable trends
Conservation is a good thing in these times, and some of the most interesting performances drew on the uses of history — personal history, performance history, and even some inventions that sought to overturn history.
- Contact points
Diane Arvanites-Noya and Tommy Neblett’s new duet seemed to be a philosophical model for the other new works on the program.
- Grief work
From dance to dance, they shared a movement vocabulary that suggested pain, struggle, solace, and submission to unseen but unbreakable constraints.
- Inside the box
"Young people, and artists especially, respond to authenticity. And whether he's just very good at seeming authentic or whether he's really authentic, I think he has a lot of us convinced."
- Loud and clear
Although it's no stretch to say that contemporary artists are eager to say something, the art world has seen its fair share of awkwardly shitty gallery talks.
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Topics:
Dance
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, Arvo Part, Tommy Neblett, Tommy Neblett, ICA, ICA, Less
