The Works & Process has been doing arts performances a huge service since 1984, with The Music of David Lang Interpreted not being an exception. Works & Process at the Guggenheim, currently produced by Mary Sharp Cronson, is a program that attempts to give audiences an inside look into performing artists in all sectors of the arts. Their most recent commission, The Music of David Lang Interpreted, asked two choreographers, Jessica Lang and Pontus Lidberg, to take two of Lang’s pieces, the so-called laws of nature and forced march, and interpret them into two separate and unique modern dance pieces. Working with Morphoses, a ballet company founded by Christoher Wheeldon and Lourdes Lopez in 2007, Lang and Lidberg lived alongside each other for five weeks and worked with different dancers to choreograph two unrelated piece: Lang:MUSIC + Lang:DANCE and Vespertine, respectively.
Forward to the performance and discussion at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum on October 3rd, 2010 at 2pm. The most noticeable difference was the way each choreographer worked with the music compositions and the effects it produced. Jessica Lang created two dances, one per music piece, with a distinct beginning and end to each piece. Her first piece, choreographed to the so-called laws of nature began robotically, with barely any interaction between dancers. Though interaction increased, at times the piece looked as if they were dragging each other along the stage while at other times, the choreography was just gymnastics; the most notable feat was when all other dancers on stage were holding one dancer from falling as he balanced precariously at the brink of the stage. Forced march didn’t do much either, being cold and, again, robotic, with an army of dancers at times in sync and, at times, doing their own separate movement. However, the austere, minimalistic music in this piece commanded sharp movement. The conclusion of the piece involved a horizontal line of dancers walking downstage, falling sporadically and picking themselves back up again. While I liked the illusion to an army 
march, Lang had one dancer repeatedly fall down, unable to get up fully, a disturbing image to anyone watching.
I found Pontus Lidberg’s Vespertine much more interesting and compelling. First, he juxtaposed the music to create a single choreography that flowed from forced march to the so-called laws of nature. Even though one might take issue with the costume change as at the start of the second part, I found the flow between the two pieces to be a better use of the music. Vespertine had sharp movement contrasted with delicate, flowing movement. The six dancers started together, moving in ways that affected the group dynamic and slowly spread out. I liked how Lidberg not only partnered the dancers to be male-female, but also broke the troupe into two groups, men and women. Overall the piece was my favorite because of its repetitive themes and the feelings that it evoked; at times it showed the jealous side of relationships while, at other times, it showed compassion.
Seeing The Music of David Lang Interpreted was a wonderful use of a Sunday afternoon. The talkback with David Lang and the two choreographers gave the audience insight into otherwise minimalistic and potentially perplexing pieces of music. I had never seen a performance by Morphoses, but the dancers were talented and exceeded my expectations. Given only five weeks to choreograph and learn a piece with hardly any musical cues, they were wonderful. For anyone who enjoys modern dance with a strong foundation in ballet, The Music of David Lang Interpreted is definitely worth seeing.
