Juilliard Spring Dances by Cunningham, Pite and Tharp with the Dancers all Looking Sharp

The Juilliard Spring Dances which got cancelled on Wednesday due to another nor'easter went on as scheduled last evening.  There are two rotating casts of dancers.  The students who were in last night's program were superb.  Both casts danced the same 3 contemporary pieces:  Merce Cunningham's "Sounddance" (1975), Crystal Pite's "Grace Engine" ('12) and Twyla Tharp's "Deuce Coupe IV" (1973).  Cunningham (b Amer 1919-'09) choreographed "Sounddance" to music composed by David Tudor (b Amer 1926-96).  Tudor's composition was an avant-garde electronic mix.  Both the music & the choreography which was revolutionary in 1975 felt dated.  Cunningham often collaborated with John Cage.  Cage & Tudor's "music" are similar; high-tech noise without a melodic theme.  "Sounddance" is an ironic title because the movement is robotic, sharp and rapid unlike an expected ballet style.  It has a mechanical aesthetic.  The dances resemble mannequins; their movements are wound tightly & set at a rapid pace.  There's whimsy to the uptempo ballet class at the barre but the frenzy & scratchy sound effects tilt from edgy to over the edge annoying.  The golden, draped backdrop matches the androgynous gold top, white leggings costumes.  A pleasing aesthetic to the piece were the group ensembles allowing a respite from the flurry & echoed the folds in the tapestry.  Moreover, the dancers resembled the churning of cogs in a mechanism.  In the end, each step was just another cog in the machine.  I was in absolute awe of Crystal Pite's "Grace Engine" ('12) set to music by Owen Belton.  Belton's computerized music has the repetitive sound of a locomotive or of the fast heartbeat of a child in utero.  The choreography was unlike anything I've seen.  The male dancers looked ass if being thrown & tormented with no control over their bodies.  The dancers' movements were staggering & defiant.  The piece possessed a melancholy of loneliness, loss and fortitude.  The dark set had only 1 straight line of bright light.  The dancers formed a line holding hands.  One dancer's movement affected the movement of the person next to them with a fluid sense of continuity with signs of resistance and reluctance.  A mournful pas de deuxe by two women towards the end felt as though they were intertwined & insistent on remaining steadfast to the other.  I read into this piece an image of twins inside their mother's uterus being tossed in continuous momentum.  The line formed by the dancers made me think of an umbilical cord.  I surmised only one twin survived the birth despite the valiant effort to be rescued by their sibling.  "Grace Engine" was remarkable for its inventive choreography, astonishing dancing and for its evocative storytelling. The piece spoke to me of the grace & fortitude to carry-on despite loss and grief.