The Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble brings Joy to Jersey City

The Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble has come to Jersey City to perform “Joy: Dances for Midwinter,” a unique modern dance performance, held at Grace Van Vorst Church, located on 39th Erie Street. The Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble is a New York based dance company that works to revive the choreography of Anna Sokolow, a renowned American dance choreographer from the 20th century. Founded by Jim May, the company preserves the Sokolow spirit by performing her work and also works by other choreographers. There are two parts to the performance: the classical dances choreographed by Anna Sokolow and other prominent choreographers, and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, which celebrates Nativity and the Christmas spirit.

Sokolow’s choreography can be described in one word: expansive. Marked by repetition, fluid spinning, and juxtaposition of movements, her work draws you in and pulls you out continuously, creating that fluctuating rhythm. “I love the choreography of Anna Sokolow,” Brandy, a dance student who takes the Sokolow open dance classes Beyond Technique. “She has both open movements that hug the audience and bring them in and closed movements that feel recluse and solitary. Even the fast paced and rigid movements go to show the slow and passionate grasps further.” On December 7th, the dance ensemble performed Anna Sokolow’s Ballade (1965), a quartet performed by Margaret Mighty Oak Brackey, Ilana Ruth Cohen, Edu Hernandez, and Brad Orego, and her Preludes (1981), a solo performance by Ilana Ruth Cohen. There was frivolity in each leap, spreading jubilee around the vast church floor. 

Three senior directors, Samantha Géracht, Eleanor Bunker, and Lauren Naslund, worked together with guest directors Gail Corbin, Pamela Levy, and Tonia Shimin, to bring these historic choreographies to life. Gail Corbin, one of the guest directors, worked directly on Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, a combination of J.S. Bach’s choral compositions and Charles Weidman’s choreograph. It has been performed every year since 2023, a grand performance done by the entire company. Both Naslund and Géracht performed this dance 13 years ago, but now they get to direct it for the people of Jersey City. “We are both from the Jersey City Heights,” Naslund remarked, pointing to Géracht, “we wanted to bring our dances back to our hometown and spread the joy to Jersey City.”

The Grace Van Vorst Church also brought another layer of depth into the performance, serving as the perfect backdrop for the Christmas performances. Each of the dancer’s mosaic costumes aligned with the illuminations on the walls of the church domes, bringing added color and brilliant vividness. Performances such as “‘And the angel said, Be not afraid’” highlighted the reverence on the church floors, extending hands up to the holy angel and recreating the holy act of being blessed by angels. 

“Joy: Dances for Midwinter” celebrates the joy felt as we creep closer to the holidays through the powerful movements of Sokolow and the reverent passion of the oratorio.