sept 29, 2013: went to see garth fagan yesterday, and loved it! his choreography is athletic, muscular and incredibly precise. the stop-start movements of the dancers require strength and perfect control. it reminded me of still frames in a film, which capture motion when played fast enough but which can express themselves as a series of vivid images when slowed down considerably. fagan dancers can slow down, so that every muscle in their bodies is taut, flexed, throbbing yet fully disciplined. no wonder then that the show opened with “prelude: discipline is freedom.” this was followed by “no evidence of failure” which fagan explained was inspired by his mother and other women in his family who were strong, can-do, multifaceted women. i also loved “gin” which is choreographed by norwood pennewell and based on the separation and transformation that occurs in cotton ginning. fantastic music by aphex twin, yo-yo ma and coleridge-taylor perkinson. finally, we were treated to excerpts from fagan’s lighthouse/lightening rod which is choreographed to original music by wynton marsalis. what a blessing that garth fagan’s dance studio is based here in rochester. the mad love from the audience was pretty obvious. more here.