Reviews from the Oct. 30 – Nov. 2 at the Joyce/Soho in New York City:

Ugly, an evening-length multi-media dance performance commissioned and presented by the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, is a major collaboration developed through an artistic round-table process. The piece features new choreography by Janczewski, original music by internationally renowned electronic music pioneer Morton Subotnick, direction by Peter Rothstein (Theater Latté Da of Minneapolis), story narrative by playwright Kira Obolensky, set design by architect Daniel Spencer, lighting design by longtime ARENA collaborator Jeff Barlett (Artistic Director of the Southern Theater), and costume design by Angie Vo. A video/live internet installation will complete the production.

Ugly explores notions and perceptions of beauty, examining various cultural influences throughout the ages and today’s mania of superficiality that drives styles and trends. The piece begins with the façade of the human form in its physical state and surroundings. This state crumbles, stripping away and breaking through the surface of our technologically advanced society revealing water, dirt, and grass of the earth, signaling a return to a natural human state.

While stemming from past successful collaborations (many of the key project artists were also involved in the production of ARENA’s Bankrupt City Ballad which premiered in 2005), Ugly is more expansive in its scope. Its development stems from a creative roundtable process with intensive workshops to flesh out ideas. An initial workshop was held at Intermedia Arts in April 2006; a second workshop, entitled Makeover 2.0, was held this past spring with performances April 6-7, 2007 at Intermedia Arts. The final production was performed at the Walker Art Center’s William and Nadine McGuire Theater October 18-20, 2007.

Ugly is modern and impressionistic in its movement style, an approach consistent with that of composer Morton Subotnick. Subotnick’s complex compositions are an ideal pairing for the work of choreographer Janczewski, who is interested in blending purely kinetic, physical abstraction with a non-traditional “narrative” supported by a theatrical framework.