Freedom of Spirit and Time

Pickett's "Union" came first, and what she had said earlier in the panel discussion about the importance of music and lighting to her work quickly became apparent. Perhaps because she had mentioned it we tried to pay attention to the use of light, and the shifting of colors, from the orange of sunrise to the red of evening, really made us appreciate the progression of the dance that much more (note to self: start paying more attention to production values). The music, cacophonous at first, slows and mellows before swelling again in the joyful third part. Pickett had also mentioned the importance of involving the dancers in the choreographic process, of recognizing their strengths. This also was particularly evident in part three, when the constant flux of partnering and focus emphasized the incredibly fun nature of the footwork. If the dancers themselves weren’t having fun, they should all get into acting.

Next was Cox's revision of a work she originally did for 2001's Shut Up and Dance, "Numb Roads." It could be our affection for Portishead (which provided the soundtrack), or for local girls, but this was our favorite. An exploration of "the challenges people face when in a relationship or single," the piece features the dancers moving together and alone, coming together and breaking apart in visually affecting ways. The motif of running manifested in many surprising ways, including some stunning displays of athleticism that made us wonder at the trust dancers must place in their partners. Something that struck us was the way the movement matched the music in what felt like a one-to-one correlation a good deal of the time. Yes, that’s the point of rhythm and all, but seeing classical movements held along with the thoroughly modern soundtrack brought it front and center. Some of what we took to calling "mini-motions," where the matching of movement to music was taken maybe a bit too far, threw us off, but ultimately the wonderful sensuality of the work prevailed.

As "STILL@LIFE" began, we wondered if this might be the most out-of-place piece, because it seemed to be the most classically technical of the three. Turns out no: it was out of place because of the apples. Hard to explain, but the trick of the suddenly appearing apple was genius. Because of my (very quickly formed) opinion on the classical nature of the work, I was a bit taken aback by the theatricality that reared its head after the first movement, but the laughter all around let us know we were just losing our sense of humor. We got it back in time for the men in skirts (hey, in the beginning they were kilts!), and the ending tableau highlighted the theme of joy which pervaded the entire program.

One quick word on endings: During the discussion Johnson mentioned a book by a choreographer (and there’s a reason we’re not journalists, because we didn’t write it down!), in which a chapter is dedicated to the order of choreographing, with the caveat that you should do the ending first. You don’t want to run out of steam and have the piece wilt away. Although none of the choreographers professed to using this chronology when working, the ending moment of each piece was perfect, and fit wonderfully with the tone of the entire work. Which is, of course, the perfect way to leave ‘em wanting more; we are physically restraining ourselves from buying tickets to tonight’s and tomorrow night’s performances. We are aching to see more.

It’s hard to say whether we would have "noticed" these were works by women if it hadn't been advertised as such—and we’re still grappling with the implications of that. It seems that such an observation would necessarily make "male" choreography the norm, for good or evil. But we'll branch out from our deeply rooted feminism and say that it really doesn't matter that much. These works were not excellent because or despite of the gender of the choreographers. The only tragedy is, as was bemoaned in the earlier discussion, that gender might be putting up a barrier to more women taking the plunge, because as these works prove (Celebrate? Rejoice?) there is certainly not any question of quality or ability. It is an interesting question to ponder, what in particular women can bring to the field. But while we think about it, thank god these women are just going out and doing it.

Photo by Alexander Iziliaev