Reviews

There are two different opinions about Alwin Nikolais' work including  his piece "Noumenon (1953)".

Positive

The New York Times calls him a "one-man multimedia wizard". The reviewer praises Nikolais' attention to all aspects of the production: movement, set, costume, sound, and lighting. He was in awe of the inability to tell dancer from object with Alwin's moving visual artwork.

I agree that Nikolais was a genius who innovated so many aspects of performances and inspired other creators to look beyond the norm and surpass social and creative barriers.

Negative

Another New York dance critic said, "If Nikolais was a genius, it wasn’t in dance." This reviewer thinks that Nikolais may have been a genius when it comes to technology, but his dancers were "reduced to design elements." In Noumenon specifically, the author was shocked that Martha Graham didn't sue Nikolais for it being so similar to her famous solo "Lamentations". The reviewer was also not impressed with the dancer's movement even though his effects were before its time.

I completely disagree with this reviewer. Especially when he mentions dancers being "reduced to design element." The critic talks as if design elements are obsolete. If you watch an Alwin Nikolais piece, it is obvious how much care he gives every single element of the production. The point of being a dancer is not to become a "star". Alwin did not want the dancers to be the focus. He wanted the movement to be seen.

"What is man? Man is not the kingpin of the earth; sometimes he is a defiler of it. I wanted to put man in balance with nature. I hated the star thing. My dancers do solos and duets, but they go back into the group, the environment." -Alwin Nikolais

As for the Graham conspiracy, even though Nikolais didn't like Martha's freudian approach to choreography, he had studied under her and respected her art. "Noumenon" was meant to be an adaptation of "lamentation". Artists need to be inspired by other artists. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that!