Interdisciplinary Arts Collective’s performance of Bedtime Stories at Great Salt Lake Fringe Fest definitely lived up to their company's title, drawing from a variety of different mediums. We saw quite a lot of gestural contemporary dance and heard abstracted stories in minimalist, deconstructed theatrical sets. Segments included costume design, masks, spoken word, vocals (was that singer opera trained?), sparse lighting design, video montage edited from existing films, a sweet little bit of live music, and a sculptural installation. I’m pretty sure I glimpsed a phrase of ballet. Even the projected chapter titles were themselves tiny little poems.
Photo by James Westervelt.
In keeping with the micro-doses of many different art forms, the show was highly episodic. Bedtime Stories was divided into twelve chapters, each giving us just a snapshot of a classic Grimm’s style fairy tale, some familiar, others less so. These short segments gave my mind the opportunity to try to distill the whole genre of European folks tales down to their essential elements. Here’s what I came to, with Bedtime Stories’ depiction:
“Watch out!”
“Danger!”
“Listen to your elders (who will tell you of danger).”
“Trees are magic; Forests are nefarious (more danger).”
“Creepy creatures gonna creep (possible danger).”
“Don’t lose your way (probable danger).”
“But really, open yourself up to connection, human and otherwise. Listen to the breeze and the birds and see if you can find yourself an earnest companion to share this moment with because your judgment isn't all that bad after all.“
Photo by James Westervelt.
Bedtime Stories' episodes included some really magical moments: a trio of hissing, whispering masked mystery, some wonderfully seamless partnering and lifts, Gray’s ode to the woods — SLAM style, a tenderness between two male-presenting dancers that made me forget I was watching choreography for a moment, obscured creatures tunneling through the stage under the watchful beak of some sort of witch, the opening set with a dancer splayed out as if having only just given up trying to wriggle out of the spider web they had been caught in, and the moment two dancers reveal their mouths to be lit from within. One of my companions for the night particularly liked the group dance sections because they had the unifying effect of making the cast come together and flow together for a brief time. My other companion enjoyed how everything was titrated — a few elements sprinkled in at a time so that after the cast spent three minutes deciding whether to go through a doorway. You had no idea who would stand on their head, and for how long (I didn’t count) and whether you’d see a rock band or piccolo next (neither, but I wouldn’t have put it past them).
Ultimately however, I wished for more depth and less breadth. I felt like I was back in a 101 survey-style course, wanting to ask fifty thousand questions about today’s topic and being disappointed that we were so swiftly moving on to the next subject. Any one of those moments that caught my attention could have been the starting point for its own magical tale. I’d like to see what happens when these artists create their own fairy tale, rather than summarizing existing ones. What do they think is important to include in a cautionary tale to scare children (and all of us) into doing right? I’d like to see their individual mediums crash into each other and meld and argue and come out the other side transformed, because this company does seem to have the capacity for story.
Nancy Simpson Carter is a dancer, aerialist, choreographer, body worker, and movement researcher from North Carolina based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Currently she is in her seventh season teaching and performing with Aerial Arts of Utah. She also runs her own business, Rumble Motion Massage and Movement. In addition, she performs with Fire Muse Circus and organizes in the Contact Improvisation and Acro Yoga communities. Nancy’s choreography has been performed most notably at TEDx Salt Lake City, the Rose Wagner Theater, the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival, Westminster Collage, Sugar Space Studio for the Arts, the University of Utah, Meredith College, the American College Dance Festival, NC Dance Alliance, and the American Dance Festival. Nancy has served as guest choreographer for Meredith Dance Theater and Broughton High School, and currently choreographs student repertory, Acro Yoga, and company acts for Aerial Arts of Utah.