Divining the rubble: Palissimo's Endangered Pieces at Abrons Arts Center

Having reviewed Pavel Zustiak’s Amidst, part two (of three) of his Painted Bird opus earlier this year, I was intrigued to take in the bigger picture by witnessing the entire trilogy on the occasion of its New York première at La MaMa.

From its very opening moments, Amidst, a production of Pavel Zustiak’s company Palissimo presented as part of Performance Space 122’s COIL 2013 festival, packs a powerfully evocative punch.

Mark Dendy weaves Greek myth with autobiography in his dance-play, Labyrinth, at Abrons Art Center.

I am back at the Abrons Arts Center’s historic (but unconventionally programmed) jewel box, the Playhouse, so soon after the recent Jack Ferver extravaganza. This time around, the stage is hosting another choreographer, Yvonne Meier, whose “reconstruction” of The Shining I likewise had the opportunity to ruminate on earlier this season.

Jack Ferver is a well-loved figure on New York’s downtown performance circuit, so it is no wonder that I arrive to Abrons Arts Center’s largest space (the Playhouse) to find that every available seat in the house is full.

I promise I am not late – the house lights are up and the performance has not formally begun. And yet, the audience is dead silent as the auditorium slowly fills up for this evening’s performance of Super Nature, a collaboration between the Minneapolis-based dance troupe Bodycartography Project and the luminary composer/harpist Zeena Parkins, presented here as part of no less than two festivals: C