Patricia N. Nanon, the feisty choreographer who founded The Yard as an informal dance theatre project in 1972, next month will grant full ownership of her multimillion dollar property in the wooded hills of Chilmark to the singular Island arts colony.
Patricia N. Nanon, the feisty choreographer who founded The Yard as an informal dance theatre project in 1972, next month will grant full ownership of her multimillion dollar property in the wooded hills of Chilmark to the singular Island arts colony.
Adrian Blue and Catherine Rush have an easy demeanor that belies the pluck of the work they are developing for debut tonight at the Vineyard Playhouse. Theirs is a kinetic energy, all quick smiles, snappy repartee and dynamic gestures. She does the talking, in spoken English, for both; "AB", as he is known, speaks with his hands, his face, even his space, because he is profoundly deaf.
Patricia Nanon is back in the barn. She may need her dancers as a barre to balance herself these days, she may choreograph with the aid of a rehearsal assistant, but there she is in the Chilmark studio that bears her name at The Yard. Now in her eighties, the tiny dancer who founded this unique performing arts colony is there entrancing the elite dancers, preparing to debut another new work.
Robert Brustein loves a good fight. His production of Samuel Beckett's Endgame so enraged the Irish Nobel laureate, he demanded it be shut down; Mr. Brustein refused, but allowed the playwright a program note informing audiences they should be disgusted.
Then there was the New York town hall run-in with African-American Pulitzer winner August Wilson, who called Mr. Brustein "a sniper, a naysayer and a cultural imperialist."
Who knew so many people with stomachs so full could dance so vigorously?