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WINNER of the Ikarus Prize 2023
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„ ….The triple bill culminates in a 40-minute performance highlighting just how far modern dance has come thanks to the likes of Isadora Duncan leading the way so many years ago. Unda, choreographed by Joy Alpuerto Ritter, is nothing short of sensational.
…We never thought 40-minutes of pure dance could be so mesmerising. It brings everything that Isadora Duncan symbolised together in one explosive performance full of passion and energy.“
„… But it is in the final piece, Unda, a new work choreographed by Joy Alpuerto Ritter for six female dancers, that the most interesting glimpse of Duncan emerges.
..What’s impressive, though, is Ritter’s forging of her own style of movement, creating sensual, swaying patterns where each woman is both part of a community and a distinctive individual, reacting with fluid and unexpected shapes to the promptings of a score composed and played live (with electronic interventions) by the cellist Lih Qun Wong. I rather loved it.“
„With choreography by Joy Alpuerto Ritter and live cello and loop-pedal soundscapes from Lih Qun Wong, Unda is the highlight of the evening without a doubt.
This piece is both unexpected, challenging and layered, and a mesmerising way to end an evening, expertly showcasing the breadth of this extraordinary woman’s artistic legacy.“
„ …water became a recurring theme of Ritter’s Unda, a shower of controlled streams pouring into large circular basins, into which the dancers flayed their long hair.
This was an outstanding new work, beautifully paced, giving this viewer a feeling of having stepped back into history, hiding behind a rock and voyeuristically glimpsing some spiritual, elemental devotion. Fascinating original music was played live onstage by cellist and vocal artist, Lih Qun Wong…
It was indeed an empowering evening of marvellous female artistry and a robust testimony to the powerful legacy of Isadora Now.“
Portrait in Otherness:
„….Ritter is a compelling performer. The detail in her movement is remarkable.
As she shifts between the animalistic and sensual, between ritual, trance and the everyday, Ritter also hints at her classical training but especially hip hop and voguing.
Ritter’s hands hold a conversation with each other, chattering away at speed and yet always with great clarity. Maybe it was the birdsong in the score, maybe it was the movement itself, but it felt like two songbirds.“
Spring forward:
„… Most compelling of the solos I caught was Joy Alpuerto Ritter’s Babae.
The detail in the choreography is remarkable as Ritter shifts between ritual, trance and everyday movement. There’s one moment where her hands almost hold a conversation, like two birds chirping away.“
Review: Portraits in Otherness at Sadler’s Wells
„In BABAE, Joy Alpuerto Ritter fully embraces the rituals of her background, yet at the same time spirits them away.
Drawing from her roots in Philippine folk dance as well as her classical training and the vocabulary of hip-hop and voguing, it’s clear to see that Ritter has amalgamated such techniques into mesmeric sequences, pulling us hypnotically into her rhythms of movement.
Particularly intriguing is the appearance of red glitter that Ritter spills out like sparkling water from one of her pots, covering her body and stage in the stuff, as if disco meets folk dancing in one exciting big hair-swinging mess. Folklore or fun, this is a joy to watch.“
Joy Alpuerto Ritter Interview: On ‘UNDA’ and Isadora Duncan.
Gegendruck
Joy Alpuerto Ritter ist überall zu Hause: im Ballett, im Hip-Hop, in den Kampfkünsten. Beim Spaziergang mit der Choreografin über Berlins ehemaligen Flughafen spricht sie über ihre Wut, über Rassismus und über den Druck, authentisch wirken zu müssen.
Christine Joy Alpuerto Ritter
Vom Hip-Hop switcht sie zum Ballett, vom philippinischen Volkstanz zum kalifornischen Krumping:
Binnen sechs Minuten schafft sie eine Zeit- und Weltreise des Tanzes...
