Message-driven dance.
CLYMOVE is committed to virtuosic dance focused on authentic exploration
2024 company Dancers
CLYMENE ALDINGER
JOVONNA PARKS
BRIDGET CRONIN
Roxanne Young
Sophia
Diehl
Arianna Stendardo
Khaila Espinoza
CRITIC REVIEW
NEW YORK THEATRE WIRE
FUN WITH CLYMOVE
Reviewed by Barney Yates May 27, 2023
Choreographer Clymene Aldinger has a playful sense of irony, which we were blessed with at the Spring season of her company, CLYMOVE, May 26 and 27, presented in Williamsburg, Brooklyn at Center for Performance Research, 361 Manhattan Ave. The show, titled "Time Signatures," was an evening of nine contemporary dance pieces, all choreographed by Aldinger, consisting of solos, trios, and quartets performed by the thoroughly enjoyable ensemble of JoVonna Parks, Bridget Cronin, Angelica Mondol Viaña and Roxanne Young. The evening was dedicated to Elisa Monte, Ms. Aldinger's mentor. It recapped everything that has been created by CLYMOVE since its inception in 2021.
As an overview, let me point out that Ms. Aldinger has an attractive company of dancers who are very strong technically. Aldinger was a principal dancer with the esteemed Elisa Monte Dance Company and a protégé of Monte, so unsurprisingly, her touch is postmodern, jazzy and primal.
The evening I saw was abundant in commentary on femaleness, with the dancers role-playing as mothers, sisters, friends and babies. But it wasn't the usual somber stuff. From the beginning I noted how refreshing it was to find a female ensemble with a sense of humor.
The movement showed great flexibility in the dancers and originality in its physical comedy… Athleticism throughout… It was a lot of fun.
Heart Sponsor: Elisa Monte, Spencer Hakim
Award Sponsor: Jessica Martinez + Tiffany & Co.
2nd Annual NYC SEASON
HERT
WORLD PREMIERE
DECEMBER 9TH + 10TH | 7:30 PM
ALPHA OMEGA THEATER
70 E. 4TH STREET, New York, NY, 10003
The dancers begin where ‘Femmenisto Chapter One’ ends. The first half of ‘Hert’ retells the latter half of ‘Femmenisto’ like a snake eating its tail, but from there the show unfurls a more vibrant twist. One that turns to spirituality, and a new kind of suffering that can be light and transparent. The dancers offer playful and sensitive communication through their bodies, since our words so often fail.
The curtain rises to a robotic politeness, where the dancers meticulously support one another in the most awkward of rotating body statues, shifting through a femme fatale whiskey haze of classic modern dance and trauma, followed by electronic darkness where we find ourselves unsure if the dancers are constricted or free. The slither of bodies struggle against confinement and funk and test their stamina with every lift and jump, often stopping abruptly to balance on one leg while the music pulses on. We then experience the comedic horror of a nursing mother busting a restrictive and yet incredibly virtuosic smoothness.
In the second half we awaken to a meditative investigation of sustained strength and breath, the dancer’s trance-like movements, moving as a collective unit, pull the audience into their own kinesthetic dreamscape, mostly because it becomes obvious the dancers have all physically taped into this greater awareness in unison. The show wraps with the dancers attempting to form the space they need to heal while authentically communicating without judgment, encouraging support through technical limbs and torsos that seamlessly flow from staccato to nimble, the unlimited swaying and swirling of hips, and deeply articulated feet.
