Review: Twyla Tharp Dance celebrates 60 years with something old, something new in stunning night at the Harris

It starts where 'In the Upper Room' ends.
The opening image of Twyla Tharp's newest dance, 'Slacktide,' is a single dancer, facing upstage, a beam of white light illuminating only his forearm. He slowly, methodically, closes his fist and draws his elbow down toward his waist. It's a fist pump. A transposition of the final moment in Tharp's 1986 tour de force.
For 'Slacktide' — which forms the back half of Tharp's 60 th anniversary 'Diamond Jubilee' running through Saturday at the Harris Theater — the prolific choreographer revisited composer Philip Glass for the first time since 'In the Upper Room.' A thrilling interpretation of Glass' 1999 half-hour score 'Aguas da Amazonia' has been realized by Chicago-based Third Coast Percussion, who play live at the Harris with Chicago flutist Constance Volk.
Third Coast, by the way, is celebrating a milestone of its own, releasing a 20 th anniversary album Friday with works by Jlin, Tigran Hamasyan, Zakir Hussain, Jessie Montgomery and Musekiwa Chingodza. 'Aguas da Amazonia' came out on CD and vinyl earlier this year, with original cover art by Volk.
'Slacktide's' ensemble, save that lone, fist-pumping dancer, enters from stage left. Hands lead the way, appearing disembodied for a tongue-in-cheek moment that can't last. Ten silky smooth dancers slither onstage, translating the undulating waves of Third Coast's sound — a mixed pallet drawing from Glass' original piano score and the Brazilian group Uakti, who were first to record 'Aguas da Amazonia' in 2006.
It's a fascinating instrumentation — two marimbas, including one made of glass; tuned PVC pipes and cowbells; Norwegian and African drums; flute; synthesizers and maybe a few more things I'm missing. Glass was inspired by the Amazon's rivers in making this music. Pro forma for Tharp, 'Slacktide' is not at all about that. Her own instrumentation is her iconoclastic blend of classic and contemporary vocabulary oscillating between presentational formality and pedestrian nonchalance.
'Slacktide' asks a lot of its dancers, a young and exceptional ensemble of freelancers whose resumes collectively include Miami City Ballet, Limon, Gibney Company, Mark Morris Dance Group, Kansas City Ballet, English National Ballet, and the list goes on. Indeed, they are a terrific group — placed in a stunningly rich container by lighting designer Justin Townsend.
Costume designer Victoria Bek's black-on-black separates balance Townsend's deeply saturated, high-definition color pallet — the exact opposite of his understated shifts in mood employed during the concert's first hour.
That's 'Diabelli,' an exhaustive exploration of all 33 of Ludwig van Beethoven's variations on a waltz by one of Beethoven's contemporaries, Antonin Diabelli. Like Beethoven, Tharp creates a utilitarian theme as a jumping-off point for mostly jovial dalliances between gaggles of dancers and a rather pleasant power struggle between the dancers, pianist Vladimir Rumyantsev, who plays live from the orchestra pit — and the audience. There's enough of a pause between several of the variations to feel compelled to clap, but not quite enough room to feel good about having done so.
It's quintessential Tharp, exploring the innards of a brilliant piece of music in ways both playful and serious. In moments, it's literal child's play: high fives, leapfrog, Red Rover, Ring Around the Rosie, cartwheels and somersaults. Tharp disassociates Beethoven's rhythmic and melodic structures from their 1820s roots, finding the piece jazzy enough for a jitterbug and folksy enough for a mazurka.
And apart from its faux tuxedo unitards, 'Diabelli' could be mistaken for having been made yesterday until you place it side-by-side with shiny new 'Slacktide.' That's not to say either piece looks exactly like what other choreographers are making now. Hers is a singular voice. Serious and silly. Classic and contemporary. Rigorous and rule breaking. Tharp is a genre. She is her own category of dance.
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Twyla Tharp Dance's 60th anniversary 'Diamond Jubilee' performance at the Harris Theater in Chicago is accompanied by Chicago-based Third Coast Percussion and flutist Constance Volk. (Kyle Flubacker)
I recall being pretty unimpressed 10 years ago when the company toured the Auditorium for their 50 th anniversary. Why make something new (and frankly unremarkable), I thought, when such a milestone begs for a nostalgic gaze at some of the more iconic works from Tharp's catalog: 'Push Comes to Shove' (1976), 'Baker's Dozen' (1979), 'Deuce Coupe' (1973), 'The Fugue' (1970) and 'In the Upper Room,' for example.
Lately, Tharp has seemed more willing to revisit the past. In 2017, she excavated original notes from some of her first dances. A few years ago, she restaged 'In the Upper Room' and 'Nine Sinatra Songs.' And she obviously doesn't resist the urge here in ways both literal and abstract. In a recent interview with the Tribune, she said she picked 'Diabelli' because 'it's a difficult piece to remount and I knew if I didn't put it up, it would get lost.'
But it's as though Tharp, who perhaps more than any living choreographer has nothing left to prove, can't rest on her laurels. On Thursday, she did not bow with her company, letting them have all the praise. She made a new dance for her 60 th anniversary because making dances is her job. And she does it better than anyone.
Lauren Warnecke is a freelance critic.
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday
Where: Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph St.

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