THREE AMAZING PERFORMANCES. [Wednesday, Friday, Saturday]
Acrometria: Tricks but with a story line! Such a treat. In the beginning the girl was sitting high up on a pole and there was smoke surrounding her. She did a solo that was risky and tricky and insanely impressive. She was practically falling off the pole but always catching herself in obscure and strong ways, such as with just one leg. Then she was joined by a man who seemed like he was trying to get her down from her post. Like he wanted to tear it down and make her join him. It wasn't aggressive but there was definitely tension between the two of them like she did not want to leave the comfort of the post. Through a series of carefully placed steps and props and the addition of another man the stage was completely transformed into the next scene with large and small wooden boxes. This part made me think of Tsveta's piece because they were clearly moving things around intentionally but it was kind of arbitrary to the audience, giving us a lot to ponder. The setting took me to outside in a dark alley, but not in a creepy way. It felt like they existed only out on the streets and their relationships were carefully woven together throughout the show without it feeling like there was a couple or any romantic relationships. It was intimate between all three of them without being sexual. The most awe-inspiring moment was when the largest man held both of the other performers on his shoulders and was able to walk around in circles. I truly appreciate their artistry, strength, and humility.
Edge: My favorite show yet! (I have a feeling I will be saying that a lot...) I was particularly interested in the first piece. Six performers lined the sides of the stage (3 on each side) and one at a time they verbally asked each other to "be" parts of a living room such as the TV, the bookcase, the couch, the table, etc. Each time, the performer would address another by name so the audience got to know each performer, making us feel included and connected. The lines had playful variations such as when someone decided they did not want to be the piece of furniture somebody asked them to be or when they fought over being the bookcase or when they would represent the piece of furniture with movement and then ask, "How was that?" and the other performers would respond. It was also cool how they would say 'You're welcome' in various languages. It added character and gave information about where the performer was from. What struck me most about this piece was the precision of their movement for sure. Every limb was carefully, forcefully and purposefully placed. It showed off the style of the company and drew us in for the rest of the pieces.
The solo that was a part of this first piece was definitely a stand out moment in my opinion. It also involved text. She would recite three lines: one in pretense (ex: I want to move); one in present tense (I am moving) and the third in past tense (I moved). So simple yet made me feel so much and think about how quickly time passes. Especially when she said "I have three kids" then "I had three kids." It made me think about my mom who is an empty-nester. She feels like her role as mom is coming to an end and it was really all she ever wanted in life so she struggles with what's next and what's left for her to do here on earth. The groups of sentences also made me think about less emotional things like even this trip. For months I've been saying "I'm going to London." Now I'm in London. In a week I will have been to London. Time is an interesting concept. It often plays a role in contemporary/modern dance and I appreciated how simply and clearly this concept of time was presented. The solo wasn't even very long. Just a brief little blip that gave me a million things to think about.
The second piece they did was not my favorite but I enjoyed the precision of it as well. The score was the droning sound of a metronome to set the pace for the numerous walking and running patterns the performers followed. I would be highly surprised if this had not been collaboratively choreographed, because everyone's path was so intricate and personal that it would have taken forever for a single choreographer to map out each performer's pattern. The large group of performers were either wearing one of two colors: red or gray. I kept waiting for them to separate by color but they never did. Even when they made groups there always seemed to be a perfect ratio of red to gray costumes. It made me feel like there were people of two different types whether that means they're from a different place, of a different race, or whatever and they were existing peacefully.
Playlist/Dance Sampler: Where do I even begin? From a campy hip hop piece to some intense ballroom action to even a pas de deux...I can't deny the show had it all. But the final piece by the Jasmin Vardimon company made sitting through a solo of a man decked out in sequins completely worth it. The piece was called "Tomorrow" but to me that has no relevance. I later found out the piece was a conglomeration of different works Jasmin has made, but you never would have known because it was put together so seamlessly. In the beginning there was a soloist and eventually a large group came swooping by multiple times until eventually they went through her and somebody replaced her. This happened a few more times, each time the group travelled across the soloist, he or she was replaced by a different one. It was seamless and I was captivated. As strange as it may sound this whole section had me thinking Jasmin was commenting on the poultry industry. The soloist's costume had a huge red stain on it and there were feathers everywhere and when the group sweeped across the stage their quick loud exhales sounded like blades combined with the blade movement of their arms. The use of feathers to create a world in which the performers existed was completely necessary. The skill in which the dancers went into and returned from the floor had me believing for a second the ground was made out of feathers. It was like they didn't have bones or the floor wasn't hard...either one the dancers were in perfect relationship to the floor and you could tell they work on those transitions for probably hours a day haha. My favorite section of this piece was when the (9?) whole group of performers were in a loose diagonal line and they performed several expertly executed canons/ripples up and down the line, changing their relationship in space to each other each time. What they did was seemingly so simple but had to be insanely hard. Each person's part was so unique and entirely dependent on the chain reaction before or behind them. Who knew the simple compositional element of canon could turn into something I could watch for hours?
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Limon Contemporary class at Dance Works
Stephen Pelton
I thoroughly enjoyed the Limon contemporary class taught by Stephen Pelton. Suzanne would definitely approve of his teaching methods. Parts of the final combo were built into the warm up combinations so we didn't have to remember all new material. Foot work was perfectly challenging. I wish there had been floor work but it was good to focus on alignment, off-axis balance, and weight transference. These are the principles I believe the class was focused on. It was good for my arms because they were specific and clear, instead of loosely placed or "free." My arms are always a mess when the instructions are "just let them be free" or "natural." Naturally, my arms are awkward haha so having a place for them definitely helps. I also liked how this instructor learned our names and integrated us into the class smoothly. He taught a series but we didn't feel behind and he still was able to push everyone who had taken the other classes with him. He was genuine but not overly nice. I would definitely take class from him again. Overall the class was highly technical and exactly what I wanted.
Final combo:
-step out
-bent leg slides up standing leg (jazzy)
-rond de jambe
-chest concave inward
-side lateral tilt
-tombe pas de bourree
-3 sweeps inward in a semi circle
-out to second
-lift leg a la second; passe; arabesque saute
-shasay back; left tilt
-series of rond de jambes into "propeller" and ball change
-straight arms up step behind; walk walk; step in front
-sweep side ball change (arms in soft)
-pas de basque place leg down turned in
-turn out other leg and arabesque turn on it
-collapse over in fourth
-rond de jambe to start again