A Walk, a Talk, Second Thoughts: Beth Soll & Co.

By J. Taylor Basker

Despite the Graham studio’s imminent closing at Westbeth, Beth Soll & Company brilliantly performed in its space on March 22, leaving a strong aura of explosive creative movement as formidable ghosts for its future inhabitants. This performance had a chemistry that used physical chain reactions propelling the viewer through space, time and complacency.

Beginning with We Take A Walk, Soll, in her 80s, strolled metaphorically through time. Joined by a youthful Caroline Frank, the dance startled viewers with unanticipated twists and turns, symbols for unexpected life events. This duet expanded on her 2025 solo She Takes A Walk with new possibilities and complexities. Soll used unexpected gestures that include neck and elbow movements as well as hands and legs. Expression was important, and eyes became instruments of dance. This shaped the walk as a spiritual journey as well as a tangible exercise in discovery.

In Education three dancers present an inside view of dance training. Professional dancers take technique classes during their entire career and often dance with younger, inexperienced students. This uneven situation can produce both difficulties and creativity, under the watchful eyes of the teachers. This piece was fun, both for the dancers and viewers. It was filled with humor, energy and the unexpected including a dance student’s role looking out the window. The jazz music reinforced the creative use of traditional movement with free and inventive emotional responses.

Improvisation was a genuine improv between the dancers on the spot ─ with the three dancers at times mirroring or challenging each other in playful encounters. They conjured up leaps and twirls in the air and gyrating gestures on the floor. Neither they nor the audience knew what was coming next, which added to the excitement of this piece.

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In On Second Thought, Soll’s premier solo, her choreography is a satirical, somewhat uppity reaction to her dance She Takes A Walk. Looking back to her career, she makes irreverent references to ballet and Asian styles, with acknowledging the ongoing often painful physical challenges of being a dancer. She migrated from solemn to satirical movement, with subtle gestures where even her fingers became meaningful instruments of dance.

Soll concluded the performance with a tribute to the challenges dancers face as they leave the security of the studio to begin their careers. Fear and anxiety turned to joyful movement. Many of the gestures Soll derived from the paintings of her fellow Westbeth resident, Clare Rosenthal.

In the enthusiastic question and answer period that followed the performance, when Soll was asked if there was a message in certain dance movements, she wisely replied, “If you get one, then there is one!”

Beth Soll is a challenge to our society’s dismissal of seniors to the sidelines. Her work continues to be brilliant, inventive and pivotal for contemporary dance. As Westbeth photographer Arnold Hinton declared in the senior center when people were discussing retirement, “Artists never retire.”