Feet on the Stage, Hands on the Piano

Security was paramount at the Granada when Israel’s Batsheva Dance Company performed as part of UCSB’s popular Arts & Lectures program.

A small number of protesters were present, carrying disparaging placards. More than 18 Santa Barbara police officers were stationed in and outside the theater and guests had to go through metal detectors placed in the lobby.

The 11 Tel Aviv-based dancers performed a 70-minute intermission-free show MOMO, choreographed by Ohad Naharin, with set design by Gadi Tzachor and lighting design by Avi Yona Bueno.

It was a captivating performance featuring music by the Kronos Quartet and Laurie Anderson, “Metamorphosis: Two” by Philip Glass and “Madre Acapella” by Arca.

It was a shared passion of deep sorrow and beauty unfolding on the Granada stage.

Just 48 hours later and without all the heavy security on display, I watched returning pianists Beijing-born Yuja Wang and Icelander Víkingur Ólafsson in an 85-minute Granada A & L concert with works by Berio, a four-hand work from Schubert, Cage, Nancarrow, John Adams, Arvo Pärt, and Rachmaninoff, the show concluding with his “Symphonic Dances” for two pianos.

It was all two grand for words…