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In the frame
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Swan Lake meets Flashdance

The Art Newspaper
2 May 2016
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On Monday night, the Guggenheim debuted its three-night run of Ryan McNamara's latest performance, Battleground, in the museum's theatre, which McNamara described in notes for the show as "prophetically designed for the sci-fi cosplay house-music ballet-battle that fell into my mind the moment I saw the space." There is no more concise description for the performance, in which three trios of dancers dressed in red, green and blue fought for control of the museum's theater, their movements equal parts Swan Lake and Flashdance. Three-quarters through the performance, McNamara took to the stage with the Guggenheim's recently departed chief curator Nancy Spector to conduct a panel about the show that was still going on. "I grew up watching MTV where people danced to the music," he said. "And in a lot of contemporary dance, that’s something to be frowned upon. But that’s one thing about me being a dance fan, but not having any notions about what it’s supposed to be or not. I mean, why wouldn’t I want things to look like Janet Jackson? Of course I would." After the show, audience members on their way to the museum's atrium passed one of the now-dead characters, and one of them took a selfie with the body. McNamara, meanwhile, chased the other dancers upstairs with a spotlight, where they mingled with wine-sipping patrons. (This too was part of the performance.)

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