Funny dances are indeed a rare treat. It struck me again when I recently watched Alexander Ekman’s hilariously funny Tulle performed by the Joffrey Ballet. He presented a multitude of women in tutus stomping around—I believe the floor was miked—amplifying the thudding sound we usually politely ignore at the ballet. In another moment, they moved downstage, peered into the audience, and began whistling the Tchaikovsky theme of the swan corps, almost as if to say, “Yes, we see you. Is this the expected ballet you came for?”
These days, we often find our dance humor on platforms like YouTube, but crafting laughter into live choreography is a skill that requires both talent and bravery. Therefore, it’s worth highlighting some notable recent and upcoming instances of funny dance in performance.
Annie-B Parson’s absurdist piece, The Snow Falls in Winter (2008), brought unexpected comedic moments to the Graham audience, as Siobhan Burke noted in The New York Times. In one memorable bit, a dancer bends to press her face onto a tabletop and reappears wearing a fake mustache. In another, a dancer balances a book on her raised thigh, and its fall is punctuated by canned applause. Yet, sometimes the humor arose simply from the clever timing of reaching for or retracting from an object.
Another recent example of dance comedy was Matthew Rushing’s Odetta, which premiered with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in December. Set to a charming rendition of “There’s a Hole in the Bucket” by Harry Belafonte and Odetta, two Ailey dancers enact the inherent silliness of the lyrics with perfectly sassy timing and delivery.
A touch of humor consistently brightens any season of Paul Taylor’s work. In the Paul Taylor’s American Modern Dance program, Cloven Kingdom exposes the animalistic instincts lurking beneath seemingly civilized individuals. Realizing Taylor’s perspective on human behavior is enough to make you roar with laughter. For a deeper exploration of Paul Taylor’s comedic genius, Alan Ulrich’s survey of humor in Taylor’s works in Dance Magazine is highly recommended.
A ballet that unfailingly brings on the giggles is Jerome Robbins’ 1956 The Concert (or The Perils of Everybody). It’s packed with one whimsical scene after another. New York City Ballet wisely schedules it infrequently enough to ensure it remains a delightful surprise each time. The “Mistake Waltz” can have audiences howling with recognition, as we all know what it’s like to err, and Robbins brilliantly weaves wonderfully awkward moments into the choreography’s fabric. However, like much sophisticated humor, the umbrella section treads a delicate line between comedy and poignancy. The Concert was recently performed by Miami City Ballet and is anticipated to be staged by Pacific Northwest Ballet in the fall.
While online videos can achieve viral fame, nothing compares to experiencing live dancers performing choreography that evokes genuine laughter. You witness skill, artistry, and a wonderfully wacky imagination all rolled into a single, unforgettable dance performance.
