Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company performed "Collage Revisited" at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park on Saturday night. (Photo by Theo Cote)

It’s been 37 years since Arnie Zane’s death. But for choreographer Bill T. Jones, his relationship to the choreographer – both personal and artistic – remains vibrant.
 
That was evidence on Saturday night at the Kaatsbaan Cultural Park in a program that returned to a work the two created just before Zane’s death – “The History of Collage.” As danced by Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, the new version was recast as “Collage Revisited,” yet it held the same message – the assemblage of different parts create a beautiful whole.
 
What was amazing as the world gets more fractured, this work’s relevance only grows. Certainly, that is a surprise as we should be beyond dehumanizing and scapegoating our neighbors because they do not fit into what we deem to be the norm. Sadly, this could be embedded in human nature.
 
In the recast, Jones demonstrates how these differences bubble up, struggle to find freedom of expression and how a united front, unbothered by differences, nurtures a peaceful world.
 
The piece centers on a lone figured dressed in a suit, danced by Barrington Hinds. It begins with a voice talking about Freud and dreams. Over and over, the words are repeated as the figure sees what seems to be a biography – from childhood to relationships to striving adulthood. He simmers motionless in thought or moves through the world presented by the eight other dancers – that he watches or tries to discard.
 
As this is happening, the sound grows distorted, fades to a roar, that cannot be ignored, and then into a warped sound. Then the dancers are in full-blown rebellion. Sirens, shouts and screams blare as they push forward and are thrown back – again and again.
 
Finally, the piece moves to silence. The dancers line up, with the figure, touching gently each shoulder before them. Love and acceptance is finally achieved – a important statement for our time.
 
The evening also included “Story//(2013),” a work conceived and directed by Jones. Here, the stage is laid out like a sports arena – a court or track – in which nine dancers sprint, toss green apples and launch themselves into the air to Franz Schubert’s “String Quartet No. 14” or “Death and the Maiden.”
 
For a brief second at the start of the piece, one gets a glimpse of Jones’ inspiration – an office setting in which a man polished an apple. But after the initial, brief pose, the dance explodes into endless rushing that showed off the dancers’ strengths and sheer vigor. The dancers appeared to take as much enjoyment in dancing the work as the audience did watching it as they couldn’t hold back smiles as they engaged with each other – flinging themselves into each other’s arms – in a mad dash over unseen hurdles.
 
This is Jones at his most delightful.
 
This program will be repeat at 2 p.m. today at Kaatsbaan Culture Park in Tivoli.

Nacre Dance's "Sip, Savor & Swirl" combined wine and cheese pairing in a dance competition on Saturday at Universal Preservation Hall. Above are ​Colleen McKenzie and Grady George in the winning work, choreographer Juliette Rafael's “The Sinner and the Saint.” (Photo by Amy Zounes of Best Frame Forward)

A sip of wine can make one feel like dancing.
 
Nacre Dance Group tapped into that to inspire its latest choreographic contest, Sip, Savor & Swirl, which paired dancemakers with a wine. Each contestant was tasked to create a work inspired by their chosen fermented grape beverage. And in the process, create a vision of the fruits’ origins, flavors and more importantly, its sensation.
 
Of the six works presented on Saturday night at Universal Preservation Hall, most tapped into the intoxicating personalities of the wines.
 
But there was so much more to the show than the swallow. A sommelier, Krysta Dennis, described the wines before the piece took the stage. Then volunteers went from patron to patron, seated at tables, to serve a splash of each wine. As the choreography unfolded, the audience sipped the wine the dance expressed. And, as a bonus, cheeses of the wine’s home region were also served.
 
And that’s not all. There were also three judges to describe what they saw – all in ebulliently cheerful terms. (This is not “So You Think You Can Dance.”) Yet ultimately, the audience was the arbiter of the dances by voting by ballot at the end -- selecting the winning dance – giving them a chance to dip their toe in the wine cask too.
 
Obviously, Artistic Director Beth Fecteau was inspired by Bacchus. Only he could have conjured up more revelry.
 
Choreographer Juliette Rafael took home the top prize for “The Sinner and the Saint.” Set to a live, fine quartet performing Charles Mingus’ “The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady” (Track A and C), the duet featured Colleen McKenzie and Grady George in what appeared to be a gentle taming and finally romantic pairing. It was inspired by the Italian Montepulciano red – that is bold, dry with a delicious finish.
 
This was the only dance with live music, which always elevates the artistry. And the dancing was grand but contradicted the intention that McKenzie, though dressed in red, was anything short of angelic, and George was the knight she deserved. Based on the title, I’m not sure that is what Rafael’s meant to express.
 
I preferred the solo “First dip,” by choreographer and performed by Sydney Lemelin. Inspired by Spanish Rioja, the work touched on the beauty and fierceness of the wine and human spirit. Set to “Moon on the Bath” by Japanese Breakfast and “Cucurrucucu Paloma Hable Con Ella” by Caetano Veloso, the piece was mysterious and at times a little odd with a second performer, unidentified, tossed what looked like blueberries at her, which she caught and tossed in her mouth.

Lemelin intrigued with her mix of subtle and strong kept audiences engaged.
 
My companion at the competition preferred the first piece, “Cin Cin” by Taylor Gordon that was meant to capture the bubbly personality of Italian Prosecco.  This work was set in a 1920s speakeasy where a trio sparkled as the drinks and dancing flowed.
 
What didn’t flow well, was the loquacious sommelier’s critiques of the dances. Her verbosity stole time from the knowledgeable judges, Mary Harney, Suzanne Rayome and Benita Zahn, who had little chance to express their thoughts.

Despite the fact “Sip, Swirl & Savor” is an excellent idea to bring new audiences to dance. I would only suggest limiting the speaking and ultimately recognize that dance and wine speak for themselves.

While the reflection is always good – it gets complicated when you are a performing arts organization. How does one stage a legacy work without it appearing irrelevant or dated.
 
Certainly, that is a question the Paul Taylor Dance Company likely considered in its program this week at PS/21 Center for Contemporary Performing Arts. The showcase, which in years past blended the late Taylor’s unique blend of social commentary with uplifting dance, reached back nearly 70 years to present his earliest works. And while it was interesting to see and important to preserve – for posterity sake – I’m not sure the works hold up on today’s scrutiny.
 
At the time of their creation, “3 Epitaphs” in 1956 and “Tablet” in 1960, were ground-breaking. Much about them: their costumes (“3 Epitaphs” had designs by Robert Rauschenberg): their music, New Orleans jazz in “3 Epitaphs” and a commissioned composition by composer David Hollister; and their movement – almost robotic — was a freeing departure from Taylor’s emotive and mystical mentor Martha Graham.
 
Seeing them together on Thursday night at the open-air theater in Chatham was instructive, but not exactly enjoyable. Simply put, they lack the depth of Taylor’s later works that were glorious with full-out dancing.
 
The evening opened on a high note with a 1999 work "Cascade." Designed around selected Bach “Concertos for Piano and Orchestra," this beautiful work didn’t bother skimming along the darker rim of life, as Taylor was wont to do, but rather just celebrated the joy of the music with choreographic display that echoed across the theater.
 
The men, Devon Louis in particular, stood out for their rushing movement that would reverberate from one dancer to the next. The duet with Jessica Ferretti and Louis glowed as each responded to the other in kind, creating an environment where each movement garnered enough respect to be mirrored. It was one of those dances that the audience and the dancers couldn’t help smiling throughout. The joy pulsated.
 
Since Taylor died in 2018, the company’s artistic aims have shifted to welcome in works by other choreographers. And they have found a winner in Ulysses Dove’s dramatic “Vespers.” This 1986 dance with an all-female cast in black is intense and keeps eyes glued to every gesture. To an exuberant and tenacious drum solo, “Quorum” by Mikel Rouse, six bend and fall from chairs as if being convicted of some religious infraction.
 
"Vespers" is also fast with dancers orbiting a small world, in a space defined by severe lighting design by William Grant III. It’s also in a potent cocktail of redemption seekers motivated by fear.

And despite the older works falling into the odd, but interesting category, the program was pure Taylor -- engaging to the end.

This program will be repeated at 8 p.m. on Saturday night.