In this introduction to Christopher Williams’s 2023 reimagining of Jeux, echoes of the past immediately mix within a contemporary setting. The work was first choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes and premiered a century ago. Debussy was commissioned for the original production, though he initially balked at what he thought was a ridiculous scenario: tennis.
In “Unavailable Memory” at Baryshnikov Arts Center, dance artists fill in gaps in the choreographic record, but they don’t all speak fluent Cunningham.