REVIEWS
"Dancers dropping from the ceiling, dancers walking on walls, dancers bounding, hanging, floating -- if contemporary dance is, on some level, about rethinking the movement of bodies in space, the Brenda Angiel Aerial Dance Company gives us a lot to think about... The Argentine troupe upended the normal spatial perspectives of the proscenium stage with a show full of thrillingly playful abstractions... Angiel's ingenious choreography cheats physics for the greater glory of geometry. "Air Condition" is a blast of fresh air indeed."
Marty Hughley, The Oregonian, April 5, 2008
“Both the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago were well received (at Spoleto Festival USA), but dance audiences reserved some of their loudest applause for the Brenda Angiel Aerial Dance Company from Argentina.”
Stephen Kinzer, The New York Times
“In an inspired departure from traditional dance forms, the Brenda Angiel Aerial Dance Company made its Spoleto debut with sparkle, wit, and the magic of flying. Angiel has found a new way of using space and teasing our perception of limitations. Exquisitely trained and controlled dancers swing past one another like synchronized metronomes. Poetry in motion. A tour de force for an innovative young choreographer.”
Nada Arnold, The Post and Courier, Charleston, SC
“Tethered to bungee cords and steel cables, Angiel’s dancers bounce, glide and embrace in space. They ticktock like human metronomes, and when they fly toward the audience, you get the vertiginous feeling that you are moving with them. By imagining that there is no gravity (only heaven), Angiel has reimagined dance.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“The Argentine company, appearing at the Kennedy Center as part of the 'America Dancing' series and AmericArtes festival, are urban folks and no matter that they’re suspended 15 feet in the air, they’re still going to wrestle and tussle and cuddle and then maybe break off and slink into the shadows. This felt fresh. Loneliness, abandonment, community and comfort – all seemed clear. Whether her dancers are in the air or on the ground, upside down or sideways, Angiel is at her best when the emotions are straightforward."
Sarah Kaufman, The Washington Post
"Who would not want to defy gravity, particularly in such a buoyant, light-hearted way? (In 'Otras Partes'), without losing any of that magical sense of airborne travel, she sets her dancers to purposeful tasks and everyday activities. Moments of delicious physical wit. (In 'South, Wall and After'), the result is hauntingly beautiful and full of subtle surprises. A powerful piece!"
Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times.
“This creative Argentinean choreographer has taken modern dance into a new dimension - one above the stage that literally gives the audience a new perspective on movement. These dancers don't have wings, Flubber feet, or fins, but ropes or bungee cords that enable them to fly, bounce, and swim. The resulting movement excites, mesmerizes, and sometimes bring the audience to the verge of vertigo. It seems like a dream of flying and childhood fantasy of being on a cosmic Pogo stick, bouncing here and there without the drag of gravity."
The Herald-Sun, Durham, North Carolina
“There was a stunning moment when a trio, engaged in the aerial equivalent of synchronized swimming, expanded into a group of five. The beauty of this piece is its ability to operate on two levels: one sees the reality of the movement and believes in the illusion it created.”
Anna Kisselgoff, The New York Times
"[An] exploration of seemingly every possibility of swing, sway and spin. Throughout everything they do runs a thread of energy or emotion between the man and the woman. There is something remarkable in watching these two moving together, ten feet off the ground and off balance, falling and recovering, skittering across the floor, that is absolutely compelling."
Janine Gastineau, Daily Camera, Boulder, Colorado
"'For high-flying troupe, all the stage is a dance floor'... With sensitivity, artistry, and consistent musicality, Angiel created movement that flowed and twirled, but stayed sensual. Throughout 'Vuelos Aires,' Angiel made use of the acrobatic feats available with harnessed suspension without relying on them. Emphatically artistic, she used virtuosity as an embellishment to her creative choreography. This was a dance concert, not a gymnastics competition. A quartet of harnessed dancers shot straight out at the audience like climactic shadow from a 3-D movie. The Brenda Angiel company dances with brilliance. They realized enormous expression with a specific style of dance."
David Ollington, Kansas City Star
“Ms. Angiel is the most choreographically inventive aerial dancer I have encountered… spectacular: sensuous and breathtaking… A truly festive experience.”
John Rockwell, The New York Times
“Notably sensual, communicative approach to suspended movement. Daring elasticity… fascinating… wonderful tension and voluptuousness.”
Susan Reiter, DanceViewTimes.com
“At the core of their physically demanding performance is not flamboyant stage antics or excessive bravado, but dance. More specifically, modern dance in the air. [They] provided new dimensions to the common dance concepts of space and times. Much more depth than anything we could ever see at the circus.”
Ashley Hassenbroek, Omaha World-Herald
“’Angiel takes audience’s breath away’: A thrill ride… Inventive movements… a kaleidoscope feel, a sensual treat… Intoxicating [with] jaw-dropping athleticism, inventiveness and fun. The program is great for children.”
Orla Swift, The News & Observer, Durham, North Carolina
“Welcome to the sexy, exhilarating, gravity-defying world of Brenda Angiel’s Aerial Dance Company. The movements are so smooth and controlled, the dancers seem more like they’re underwater. At times, you have to marvel, ‘How do they do that?’ All dancers are beautiful physical specimens, but the sheer physical prowess and strength of this group are particularly envy-producing… Amazing.”
Natasha Gauthier, The Ottawa Citizen
“Angiel takes modern dance to new heights… Fascinating choreography, expressing tenderness, need and vulnerability.”
Judith Lynne Hanna, Dance Magazine
“’Dancing With Grace in Space’… Delicately, lyrically, amazingly… with a sense of wonder, humor and grace. A new movement vocabulary, changes an audience’s perspective of dance, movement and even one’s point of view. Angiel shows she can continue with a varied repertoire of kinetic motions that can surprise, amuse and amaze.”
Frank Rizzo, Courant, Hartford, Connecticut
“Angiel is able to slow down movement and dissect the basics, like leaping falling, running, and tumbling, and turn them into new territory. The Brenda Angiel Aerial Dance Company proves the continuous exploration for new territories in old art forms is a worthwhile and successful endeavor.”
Kristen Rhodes, Charleston City Paper
“One of the hottest new movements to swing through open air… It’s thrilling, of course, but what’s surprising is the grandness and fluidity of the motion. Unbound from the earth, the angels take marvelous flight.”
Thomas Bell, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Breathtaking and beautiful… transports audiences into a magical, illusory world. Angiel has elevated [dance] to a different level.”
Michael Crabb, Nation Post, Toronto
“This is pure dance, not some circus act… [it’s] part of the natural evolution of dance.”
Natasha Gauthier, The Ottawa Citizen
“Angiel has gone where few dance makers have ventured and deserves credit for her imagination and pioneer spirit.”
Susan Broili, The Herald-Sun, Durham, North Carolina
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