Public Nudity
Cipriani's request for formal attire is just one of the conventions choreographer Ellis Wood will negotiate when her 20-woman company congregates on the exterior balcony of their luxe downtown post for a good old-fashioned display of public nudity. Such razzmatazz along the sterile canyons of Wall Street can only mean the third annual Sightlines has arrived, presenting 64 free, site-specific performances south of Canal Street through August 30.
I meet Nolini Barretto, the producer of Sitelines, at a park in the financial district known as the Elevated Acre. I never knew the green public space, tucked behind and above the 55 Water Street building, existed, but Barretto is constantly scouting locales, and discovered this one-and its commanding views of Brooklyn-about a year ago.
She's invited me to watch a rehearsal by Douglas Dunn and Elke Rindfleisch, the next team up in a doubles program new this season that pairs established choreographers with emerging ones. On cue, Dunn, the high priest of outdoor performance, wanders over wearing bright yellow sneakers. Just behind him, a Rindfleisch dancer in yellow tank and matching vinyl skirt runs across the concrete stairs. On a boardwalk spanning the entire length of the park, another dancer executes a kick turn. Nearby, two executives toss a baseball back and forth on their lunch hour, oblivious.
Barretto references a moment in Keely Garfield's maritime-themed "Hope & Anchor," which just debuted at Sitelines, and featured a dancer in full Mermaid drag flopping around South Street Seaport, then posits, "You have to make a big statement to make it here."