Everything Tendentious…at the Main Library

Everything Tendentious or M in Luck, was presented in a suite at the downtown City Library this past weekend.  The inter-disciplinary performance by German artistic director Michael Schmidt featured two artists living and working in Germany alongside locals, Analeigh Sanderson, Joshua Yago Mora and Tanja London. It was refreshing to walk into a show not knowing what to expect; congratulations to Tanja London for bringing a different aesthetic and sensibility to Salt Lake.

The space was intimate with audience members sitting closely on a raised platform of real green grass (a stark juxtaposition to the explored cyber-world) or standing in the perimeter or the room.  The content is focused and developed, examining themes of technology, bodies, and human connection or lack thereof.  These are themes that many artists have been exploring lately and this particular exploration goes between actual lectures and embodied movement, exploring topics ranging from the Industrial Revolution to the vastness of Facebook and cybernetics.

While I am not sure I feel the urgency to join a revolution against technology, partly because humanity has always been pretty awful with or without the aid of computers, this show was powerful. It was strongest when the human body moved with and against themes of connection and disconnection, sweat appearing on shirts and faces as a reminder of our humanness, our flesh and blood.  However, the inclusion of text was also engaging and organic with carefully choreographed transitions serving to either dispel or create tension. An ambient video design by Scott Wasilewski reminded us of our digital age, and often was projected on the dancer’s forms, imprinting their bodies with the familiar glow of florescent light.

Ten or so exercise balls were used to offer visualization of our relationship with technology, concealing the dancers in the beginning and undeniably supporting Lena Visser while she danced and spoke of revolting against the industrial revolution, and ultimately trapping the dancers, their entire bodies hidden as their arms barely outstretched.  All performers were skilled both theatrically and physically, and blended the two back and forth throughout the show.

The show climaxed with the four women frantically moving their bodies, twisting and falling and contorting, unable to escape the bodies that we are given despite the technology we have invented.  The feeling in the room at the conclusion of the show was electric, the small audience clapping for several minutes, all of us alive in our skin while our phones and computers waited for us at home.

Erica Womack is a Salt Lake based choreographer. She teaches at SLCC and regularly contributes to loveDANCEmore.



Performance Art Festival & notes on reviews

Below are some photos Winston Inoway shared of the annual Performance Art Festival at the Main Library earlier this month. A review of the 2014 festival can be found here. Although no one wrote about the PAF this year please consider commenting on the thread below if you saw the works presented and want to share your thoughts.

Because we are a peer based blog and performance journal most readers know that we rely on interested writers to reach out with performances they want to cover. The same goes for the previews and profiles we share with 15 BYTES. As our organization has grown, we also have a new reliance on artists sending press material about their work so we can make sure to cover it.

Since loveDANCEmore programs began in 2010 the number of reviews we post annually has almost doubled with every passing year. This trend of consistent shows by independent artists and their creation of larger collaboratives is incredible. But that trend also means the freelance nature of our peer reviews has to shift. Artists with upcoming shows, please submit a press release to admin@lovedancemore.org at least two weeks prior to your show. We want to continue covering the diverse range of performances across the Wasatch Front; if there is something we missed we hope our readers can help fill in the gaps.

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Aerial Arts — Children’s Review

This year, Aerial Arts of Utah presented a child-friendly matinee through RDT’s outreach series, Ring Around the Rose.  I took two of my children, Zachary (4) and Kate (2).  The show was a perfect length and with tickets at five dollars, and children two and under free, it was an affordable Saturday activity.  All those involved did an excellent job, and I admit that I shed a happy tear watching my children become transfixed by the magic and ability of the human body, their little hands clapping in tune with everyone else’s.  Here is what they had to say about the show…

Zachary:  I liked the show and it was fun.  I liked all the moves you did.  I liked it when you guys were twisted around in your curtains.  I hope you had a good day dancing and your moves are pretty cool.

I saw them hanging upside down with their legs in in their curtains and swinging on big rings.  It was a nice lovely time and I liked everybody, even the clown.  When it was over I got a green balloon, and even saw the person with the really long legs.

And when asked about the show, Kate, who is not a big talker, just said “Thank-you.”

Erica Womack is a choreographer based in SLC. She also teaches at SLCC and contributes regularly to loveDANCEmore.

 

RDT’s RITUAL

Repertory Dance Theatre’s RITUAL marked the first performance of the company’s 50th anniversary season. While the company’s repertory itself is steeped in history, RITUAL was also a celebration of the company’s dancers and choreographers over the decades. A photo gallery of past company dancers hung in the lobby of the Rose Wagner, and RDT alumna Lynne Wimmer compiled a documentary-style video featuring a host of past and present RDT affiliates paying homage to the company and its continuing legacy.

Those speaking in front of Wimmer’s camera in “For the Love of Dance: Reflections on RDT’s 50 Years” emphasized the importance of RDT, its repertory, and opportunities gleaned through time spent working with the company. A deep respect and passion for RDT and its mission by the dancers was apparent in the evening’s performance.

Six of RDT’s eight dancers gave us a taste of the clarity and poise they bring to the stage in Chant, a brief but satisfying foray into the classical modern world of unitards and arms held in low and balletic roundedness. Tim Wengerd’s choreography from 1967 gave us glimpses of Merce Cunningham and even of Martha Graham (whom Wengerd danced for), broken up occasionally by coquettish knee swings while seated.

Energizer (Section III) by Molissa Fenley highlighted the stamina and performative abilities of RDT’s men. Section I of the same work, performed later on the evening’s program, similarly highlighted the stamina and precision of RDT’s women. Both sections of Energizer left me wondering, at times, “When will it end?”: repetitive scores by Mark Freedman accompanied rather than propelled the oft-repeated motifs, phrases, and formations, many of which were executed while prancing. Variety, however, was found in each dancer’s approach to Fenley’s mix of both quirky footwork and classically identifiable steps (stag leaps, chaînés, etc.). Efrén Corado Garcia drew the audience in with his passionate engagement, Justin Bass with a subtle sensuality, Dan Higgins with a stalwart strength, and Tyler Orcutt with his lithely airborne leaps. The dancers of RDT understand how to imbue the works they are given with continued relevance via both the clarity and excitement with which they perform.

Pigs & Fishes, created originally for the Alvin Ailey Company by Elisa Monte in 1982, featured more full-bodied movement and groundedness than Wengerd and Fenley’s upright dances. Ursula Perry had a stunning opening solo before she was joined by the group, who entered rocking their pelvises back and forth while flexing their hands. Similar to Wengerd and Fenley, Monte finds power in form; her use of shapes, repetition, and formations all solidified the strength of the group as a unit. Pigs & Fishes exhibited a noticeable continued growth alongside Glenn Branca’s avant-garde ambient guitar score. It’s a different experience when we know the apex of the dance is approaching: where Fenley keeps us guessing and the effect is durational, Monte guides us with a traceable arc that is more narrative in nature.

Dabke, by frequent RDT choreographer Zvi Gotheiner, premiered in New York in 2012 and takes its name from “dabkeh” – the national dance of Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and Palestine, and of which Israel has its own version (Gotheiner was born and raised in Israel). The curtain opened on the first group section to reveal an exposed backstage area, and subsequent sections meandered through different “subplots” in the dance’s structure.

A solo by Jaclyn Brown exhibited dynamic stamps, whacking kicks, and tossing of the hair. Bass lifted Orcutt in a duet while Orcutt continued to push off the floor with his hands. Garcia removed his shirt, engaged in tumultuous inner dialogue with it, and was joined by three others who entered and removed their shirts in solidarity. Lauren Curley and Higgins had a fairly collaborative duet, despite each exhibiting moments of quaking in place and moments that felt rougher in touch than others; when three women entered and accusingly pushed Higgins offstage away from Curley, I wondered what he had done to warrant such treatment.

After diverging in many directions, the dancers came together in a line to make obscene gestures at the audience. Clearly rebelling against a force from either the dance or the outside world, it was unclear where their frustration truly stemmed from. Billed to be about global conflicts, particularly in the Middle East, the dance undermined a nuanced exploration with this display. Each dancer did perform this section with gusto with RITUAL demonstrating, at large, the dancers’ versatility and strength.

Amy Falls coordinates loveDANCEmore’s Mudson series and has a BFA in modern dance from the University of Utah.

Most of our reviews are shared with 15 BYTES. For “RITUAL” we had two different writers, click here for Geoff Wichert’s take.