From and article in the New York Times on Edith and Jenny- I just thought it was interesting:
Ariel Rogoff Flavin, left, and Claire Danes in “Edith & Jenny” at Performance Space 122.
By ROSLYN SULCAS
Published: January 29, 2007
Two young girls are best, best friends. They grow up, grow apart, then rediscover their friendship as adults. Oh, and one of them is
Claire Danes.
This is the basis of Tamar Rogoff’s “Edith & Jenny,” a well-intentioned but thin duo for her daughter, Ariel Rogoff Flavin, and Ms. Danes, childhood friends who grew apart, and — well, you know the rest. And it is mostly Ms. Danes’s compelling physical presence and fame that add some fillip to the biographical premise of the piece, presented at Performance Space 122.
Ms. Rogoff pads her choreographic meditations on girlish friendship with extracts from two films, made in 1989 by Jeff Mueller, and featuring, separately, Ms. Flavin and Ms. Danes at age 11. Their characters’ names are Edith (Ms. Danes) and Jenny (Ms. Flavin), both emotionally scarred by their dysfunctional families. As the adult Ms. Danes and Ms. Flavin walk hand in hand, rock gently back and forth across each other’s bodies and watch their old films while cuddling on a chair, the suggestion seems to be that, as adults, they can offer each other the kind of comfort that will redress the isolation and pain of their past.
“Edith & Jenny” is handsomely presented, with a triptych of screens (the set design is by Michael Casselli) on which the films and shifting images are projected. This forms the backdrop to the dance, as does an unobtrusive electronic score by Cebello Morales, punctuated by snatches from “A Chorus Line” and Janacek’s String Quartet No. 2. But its themes feel theoretical and rather vague, and the simple movements given to the women don’t confer any personality or resonance on their characters. (And yes, Ms. Danes can dance, as she proved in her well-received collaboration in 2005 with Ms. Rogoff: “Christina Olson: American Model.”)
Ms. Rogoff seems oddly reticent about using Ms. Danes’s dramatic abilities. At one moment, when the women re-enact a scene from one film, we do get a flash of that possibility. And the ambiguous eroticism of the friendship remains oddly flat, although on Saturday night Ms. Danes’s performance did hint at a suppressed emotional maelstrom.
Such hints are smoothed over by the coy, happy-ever-after ending, with the women creating the illusion of a single body before the credits roll on screen. Female friendship is a fine thing — but we knew that.
“Edith & Jenny” will be performed through Feb. 4 at Performance Space 122, 150 First Avenue, at Ninth Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101.