THE MASTERS RETURN
©2000 by David Lipfert
Attitude, Fall 2000
La MaMa hosted separate performances of New York premieres by Laz Brezer and Kei Takei on two consecutive June weekends at the spacious Annex theater. Both artists were appearing after absences of several years, and it was a good opportunity to reacquaint New York audiences with their special gifts. Brezer’s program covered four varied "paths" (excerpts) from his 100 Ways, a series begun in 1998. "Invocation" had Brezer entering very slowly in a ritual walk as he repeated a series of centripetal motions with his arms. Since most of the time he was facing away from the audience, his actions created a certain mystery. "My Friend" was a homage to the recently deceased set designer for Moving Earth company, Tetsuo Maeda. Although Brezer credited Maeda with the concept of contrasting soloist against a corps, the piece was expanded to include video sequences representing the four natural elements...
FOUR DOWN , 96 TO GO
Four Paths from "100 Ways"
Performed at La MaMa E.T.C.
Reviewed on 6/15/00 by Henry Baumgartner
Laz Brezer, a Canadian dancer who is married to Kei Takei and has had a prominent role in many of her works, mover with her to Japan in 1992 and has since rarely been seen here. Recently, however, he has begun developing his own work, and a sample was on view at La MaMa recently.
In "Invocation", from 1999, a solo to original music by Yukio Tsuji, Brezer moves slowly into the light. The piece, we are told, is intended as a prologue to an evening of performance.