SALT in concert at the Grand Hall

SALT in Concert showcased works by choreographers from across the nation, “presenting fresh perspectives in dance,” as Artistic Director Michelle Nielsen described in her program note.

 I am torn between appreciating that SALT didn’t try to act like the pieces they presented were related, and wishing that they were related.

 The attention to detail from SALT’s organizers is quite evident, and the company seems to be run very well, especially for such a relatively new organization. Director Nielsen greeted audience-members at the entrance to the show, and at least four others were there handling tickets, programs, and questions.

 The dancers of SALT Contemporary Dance are well-trained and extremely talented. Though the individual dancers exhibit distinct artistry, and although the company works with many different choreographers, SALT’s collective style is characterized by spinal fluidity and a close connection to the floor.

 The first piece, “A Particulate History of Friendship, The Trial and Absence of Stillard Mave” choreographed by Alex Ketley, featured wonderful moments of sustained dancer-to-dancer eye contact, and dancer-to-audience eye contact. Also noteworthy were the expressive shoulders of Amy Gunter Lolofie, which made her choreographic interpretations unique. Throughout the piece, the large number of performers (including both SALT and SALT II dancers) roamed around beyond the stage, making the Grand Hall at The Gateway feel again like the pedestrian-filled train station it once was.

 After such a large group number, it was refreshing to see a work with only three performers. “Paper Cuts” by Peter Chu featured brown paper bags and brown paper shreds as props. What stood out most in this performance was Becca Fullmer’s intense energy, her full-body commitment to her movement (especially in multiple falls to the ground), and the beyond-openness of her front body when the choreography called for it. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Becca take her movement so far.

 Next, two Brendan Duggan premieres were showcased back to back, exhibiting a wide range of choreographic style. Performed by SALT II, Duggan’s memorable “Behind a Waterfall” was successful in humorously pointing out the absurdity of clamoring for attention and approval via social media. It was perhaps a good choice for a second company because the focus was much more on the easily relatable characters than on technique.

 Duggan’s “Will the Statue of Your Beauty Walk?” was an excellent piece to follow, and the one I found most interesting. It began with small, natural human gestures that were strikingly lovely when performed in unison. This choreography and execution suggested to me a self-consciousness or worry that was maybe related to putting on the right appearance, or maybe about approval or relevancy. Rebecca Aneloski’s eyes shone with believable emotion, making her approach all the more poignant.

 Then the dancers released their ponytails to let their hair down, which was maybe symbolic of releasing from some kind of constraints or expectations. I very much appreciated the unique “hair-ography” that followed.

The male dancers of the company were left watching it and, one at a time, were pulled into the group of hair-women and pushed around and through it. The men alternately tagged each other in to be moved throughout the hair-women, or escaped to take a break and walk around the perimeter of the stage. It is unclear to me what inspired this (maybe the women wanted the men to understand what they were going through, and it was intense for the men to experience it or to not know how to help), but it was interesting to watch nonetheless.

 This section dissolved into some awesome partnering between Logan McGill and Arianna Brunell. The inventive choreography was smoothly executed and enthralling to watch.

 I know that sometimes choreographers want to leave their work open to audience interpretation, but I would have liked more clarity as to how the distinct sections of “Will the Statue of Your Beauty Walk?” were related, and what the full intention was behind the piece. Bits of vocal text at the beginning and middle gave hints, but they were not really quite enough for me.

 The concert closed with Joni McDonald’s “Beyond the Limitation,” that featured two couples doing interesting partner work to intense ambient music. For a company that prides themselves on being cutting-edge, I would recommend for them to move on from this sort of music. The theme or story of this piece also felt under-developed, but the intricate partnering was an excellent example of a choreographer playing to her strengths.

 Overall, SALT in Concert was an interesting and enjoyable show, and I very much look forward to seeing what SALT shares next.

Kendall Fischer is the Artistic Director of Myriad Dance Company. In addition to dancing with Myriad and with Voodoo Productions, she has also enjoyed opportunities with SBDance, Municipal Ballet Co, and La Rouge Entertainment, among others.

UtahPresents: Ananya Dance Theatre

Last Saturday, in the black box of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts & Education Complex (home to Tanner Dance), the audience was treated to an incredibly intense, thought-provoking, rarely soothing, but ultimately affirming performance by Ananya Dance Theatre and its team of nine dancers, all of whom are women of color.

The evening, programmed by UtahPresents and lasting a little over 90 minutes with no intermissions, gave the audience a visceral and occasionally physically uncomfortable, but altogether fascinating, view of grassroots movements, dissent, oppression, and support within that dissent, as well as eventually that of resilience and renewal.

I had an opportunity to do a workshop for three days before the performance, where I became familiar with the dancers and their unmitigated commitment to activism for social and environmental justice; they embody that commitment at all times, both on stage and in life. The process of taking individual experiences and memories and creating choreography was eye-opening for me. “In our bodies live our stories,” said Dr. Ananya Chatterjea, the arrestingly charismatic director of Ananya Dance Theatre. The choreography and performance of Shyamali: Sprouting Words demonstrated that convincingly.

The performance consisted of three acts, which followed each other seamlessly. While waiting, we listened to rhythmic chiming of what sounded like Indian hand cymbals, or manjira, followed by bird sounds. This soundscape created a tranquil bridge to nature, and was an effective foil for for the first act that followed.

Act One: Unravelings at razor’s edge

Invited members of the audience sat on the sides of the stage, holding the space safe and sacred as the dancers entered in dim, portentous lighting. As they moved in varying ways to various parts of the stage, one had the impression of women of humble, rustic backgrounds going about their daily lives, trying to face up to the enormous challenges of industrial overbearing -- and of the resistance to a loss of livelihood, habitat and control.

A quick note on the movement vocabulary of Ananya Dance Theatre may be useful here. Known as Yorchha™, it is a tribute to three Indian movement disciplines it draws from: yoga, Odissi (a classical dance movement from the eastern Indian state of Odisha, formerly known as Orissa), and Chhau (a dance form with martial, tribal, and folk origins). Yorchha™ was created by Ananya in her quest to create a contemporary language that allows for a feminine aesthetic and energy to embody resistance and new possibility.

One of the namesakes, Odissi, is characterized by an undulating grace and by Tribhanga (a three-part bend of the body in a gentle 'S' curve, with oppositional breaks at the neck, torso and knee). Another, Mayurbhanj Chhau, is a virile and vigorous dance form derived from a martial arts tradition, and has historically been male-dominated. By combining elements of these allied but disparate movement vocabularies, Ananya has created a unique, subversive language to explore themes that are far removed from the idealized mythological and spiritual worlds these styles usually occupy.

As the dancing in this act intensified, we witnessed violence and assault in the form of chopping, slashing, cutting and hacking. The women screamed, vocalizing their pain, their grief, their resistance, even as they were cut down and fell one by one into a heap, motionless. A lone survivor lifted a prop -- which was first a lifeless baby, then a blanket, then a backpack -- heartrendingly mourning the loss of these other lives. She issued a desperate plea to the universe against the injustice, compelling us all to look, listen, feel and care.

Guest artist Janzell Luika walked in as the Goddess of New Dawns, with otherworldly vocals, dressed in white flowing robes, and issuing a call for healing and rebirth: “...Come, let us sit in hope, breathe life, change, birth anew...” At this time, the audience members holding the stage space returned to their seats gently and with the flow of her voice, reluctant to disturb the cursive tide of renewal.

Act Two: From the archives of our bodies

Dancers crawled and rolled in. A toe poked out here, a hand raised itself there: all were emergent movements that reminded one of burgeoning shoots and sprouting cotyledons. In the background, barbed wire and different images of walls appeared, reminding one of the boundaries being enforced and perhaps closing in menacingly on the stories unfolding before us.

The highlight of this act was a sensuous and undulating duet by Leila Awadallah and Renée Copeland. They intertwined like vine and creeper, forest tree and flower, and danced like nymphs immersed in play, in each other, and in their mutual love and support. I felt afraid to breathe lest I disturb the painting of ethereal joy that they presented. The aesthete in me relished the Odissi technique on full display in this segment.

Another poignant segment was Ananya's own solo, in which her physical discipline and power was evident in the series of formidable yoga movements she utilized to summon up a commanding image of dissent, strife, and the energy it takes to sustain that struggle.

The musical landscape, with fragmented melody interrupted by rough unsettling sounds, kept one at the edge of one's seat and with a knot in the pit of one's stomach -- never letting one ease into a state of passive consumption. Large, undulating movements revealed pulling in different directions, perhaps a metaphor for the emotional toll that activists undergo. The penultimate image was one of Ananya lying spent on the floor. Then Felicia swept in, a surging,  billowing, gushing river, with a couple dancers holding a long rippling train; these women washed away the fear, pain, grief, and sheer fatigue, making way for hope and new beginnings again.

Act Three: Moving as grass

The screen displayed a wall, or perhaps a fence, with cracks in it; we saw small, mossy fragments hinting at the resilience of life, and of hope.

One by one, the dancers entered with mirror shields which, the program notes indicated, were inspired by the Oceti Sakowin water protectors at Standing Rock. Mirror shields, but no swords, spears, or instruments of offense: only the clear reflection of the oppressor staring right back at himself in the shield. What a powerful statement with which to embrace the higher principle of love and support, and to refrain from violence while being violated! Speaking with Dr. Ananya Chatterjea, I learned of the profound impact that the water protectors and their unwavering adherence to the principle that inspired this segment had at the Standing Rock protests.

The Odissi stance of Chowka, wide-legged and low-hipped, was clearly seen here, as strong footwork created percussion. The dancers recited rhythmic syllables -- Taa Kada Taka Jham -- where the music offered no such support.

The cracks on the wall, permeated with green, become more widespread and larger; the soft green moss had won the war on concrete. (The title of the program, Shyamali, is a Bengali word that means dark green, and invokes the resilience of grass, ground cover, and moss.)

The dancers ended with the insistent drumming of their feet in resonant rhythm while offering up a poem penned by Ananya. The poem served as a call to let go of the hate unleashed in protest, and to hew to a greater love and a common humanity.

“Standing in the scorching sun,

we kiss the earth, hold each other sacred.

........No, no, no, no, no.

In radical love,

I dissent.

I affirm.

Yes.”

And finally, silently coming together, the dancers swayed together like lush grass in a breeze. Like the image on the screen behind them, with typical Odissi grace and ebullience, they bent but never broke, united and inspiring in their resolve and credence.

I left the hall with a recalcitrant catch in my throat, unable to attribute it to any one moment in the evening, but compelled by the sheer ferocity of will to prevail and the galvanizing power of conviction that seemed to descend from each of the women on stage that evening.

Srilatha Singh is a Bharatanatyam artiste and the director of Chitrakaavya Dance. While interested in encouraging excellence in her art form, she is also keenly compelled to explore relevance and agency through the artistic medium.

Deseret Experimental Opera Company: 2047

The Bertelsen Manor was an uncommon venue for Deseret Experimental Opera Company’s 2047. Filled with childhood photos, piles of mail, and an old dog that wandered across the wood floors, the space was immediately intimate. I felt as if I was visiting a friend rather than attending a performance. Bolstered by this informal energy, the operas themselves were presented in the home’s attic ballroom.

Founded in 2013 by Logan Hone, Jesse Quebbeman-Turley, and Luke Swenson, Deseret Experimental Opera Company (DEXO) is an artistic collective that emphasizes cross-medium collaboration.  In this vein, 2047 asked four teams of a librettist, a composer, and a choreographer to create “micro-operas” addressing a simple but open-ended question: what will the Wasatch Front be like in thirty years?

“The Beekeeper’s Journal” followed a beekeeper and her apprentice as they attempted to manage a swarm of bees that commandeered a data center, putting both the beekeepers and the data retrievers at risk.  “Back Below” delved into the memories of Sarah and Rachel as they flew home to a Wasatch Front that no longer sees winter snow. A security system trapped an unhappy couple in “Open House.”  Finally, “The 55 brides of Brileen Young” profiled a group of polygamist brides as they prepared to travel east across the plains.

Written by Lara Candland and choreographed by Jasmine Stack, “The Beekeeper’s Journal” punctuated brief dialogues and audio of journal entries describing the mesmerizing beauty of a bee hive with movement accompanied by layered counting in various languages.  The beekeeper and her apprentice folded into mirrored positions, echoing and tessellating into each other with soft fluidity.  The warmth of these dance sequences contrasted the vacantly precise gestures employed by the beekeeper during the rest of the operetta.  Utilizing spacious silence, expressionless voices, and an ominous buzzing of hidden instruments, sound designer Jesse Quebbeman-Turley created an ajar landscape that was far from what I expected of an opera.  Ending with the suggestion that the bees had disturbingly embalmed the beekeeper and workers in sweet honey, I questioned what exactly the relationship was between the bees and the humans.

With an incisive libretto by Ilana Fogelson and crisp music by Hannah Johnson McLaughlin, “Back Below” focused on Sarah, as she returned to her family and home after twenty years away, and Rachel, as she attempted to introduce her daughter to a childhood home far away in place and memory.

Emma Sargent’s performance as Sarah stood out for its simplicity and sincerity.  As Sargent leaned her head against an imagined window, her movement and voice’s nuanced clarity was arresting. A foil to the quiet seriousness of Sargent, Nicholas Daulton’s Flight Attendant was delightful. Full of humor and charm, Daulton’s playful gestures poked fun at the familiar pre-flight speech. I actually laughed out loud as he signaled the chorus’s direction changes while in an one-legged airplane balance.  

Emma Wilson’s choreography for “Back Below” was witty and engaging.  Wilson deftly arranged the chorus with movements recognizably specific but heightened just enough to make them feel futuristic. They argued over seats and climbed across rows, wove their hands like blades of grass and jostled with the turbulence of the plane. Wilson tightly forged the movement to the story and music, creating a predicted future that felt darkly realistic despite its comedy.

At one point, a silver cord physicalized the connection between Rachel’s daughter and Sarah, tying one’s head to the other’s heart. Simple and poignant, the cord twisted to entangle the two, binding childhood creation of memory to adulthood’s remembering. I wondered how we will convey the memory of this place once it has changed beyond recognition. How do you tell a child about snow when they may never see it? As strange as that question sounds, “Back Below” reminded me that it is an unfortunately practical one to consider.

I couldn’t make up my mind about “Open House.” It felt like the collaborators couldn’t either. The franticly absurd energy of the two dancers portraying the rogue security system, their wonderfully silly bright red goggles, and a mid-action rave complete with LEDs, glow sticks, and light-up gloves primed me for a darkly surprising comedy. But the music and story took themselves very seriously. I wished “Open House” had gone more the direction of Carly Schaub’s quirky choreography; it was a missed opportunity.

Closing the nearly three hour evening, “The 55 brides of Brileen Young” opened with deep voices singing navigation directions from Provo, Utah to the Missouri site where the LDS Church places the Garden of Eden. Brides of all genders, dressed in a mixture of white skirts, silken nightgowns, and billowing sleepshirts marked with blue “b”’s, pantomimed preparing, searching, and gathering. Supported by an ominous drone recalling an electric generator, the brides seemed trapped in the repetitive forward motion of travel.

Luke Swenson’s allusive libretto related a series of vignettes in the life of the group of polygamist brides. One bride, a cappella, called the rest to prepare. Their answers were layered so thickly that individual voices were difficult to differentiate. One by one, the brides met each other mid-stage to matter of factly detail preparatory shopping and the quiet rigors of child rearing. Joined by a few audience members, the brides sang a rustic hymn and alluded to Mormon Sunday meetings, one of the many references throughout to LDS culture.  Introduced by the ward choir director, they called upon members, all with the last name Young, to “fulfill their destiny.”

Even when the brides were separated, they were distinctly united as if their lives had been entwined to the point of becoming indistinguishable. This feeling largely came from the dense compositions of Stuart Wheeler and from Meagan Bertelsen’s simple but skillful spatial arrangements. Voice and body were defined by those around them in a way that did not diminish individuals but instead honored dependency.

In a particularly absorbing moment, two bearded brides stood chest to chest, their bodies pushed into each other and sparely lit by a flashlight pressed between them. Lips nearly touching, they sang of an intimacy that softened edges and they echoed this intimacy in the boundary-blurring nearness of their bodies. The indefinable story coupled with the uncommon sight of such closeness captivated me. I relished the ability to wander through all possibilities of their relationship and did not want the tender moment to end.

As I wrote this review, I found myself talking through the show much more than usual, only able to process the performance through rambling conversation. Because only theme and medium loosely tied the four operas, 2047 did not lend itself to a neat concluding impression. Some moments made me sit up straighter and some didn’t. However, that was the draw: it was an evening formed around wondering and striving rather than arriving.

Mary Lyn Graves, a native of Tulsa, OK, studied dance at the University of Oklahoma. She currently dances with Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company.

Aerial Arts of Utah: Flight of Fancy; Illusions

Aerial Arts of Utah presented Flight of Fancy; Illusions at the Rose Wagner this past weekend. The curtain opened to a foggy scene that set up a theme that connected the whole show: a woman curiously wandering around, being shown various sparkly objects and aerial acts by a mysterious man in a top hat. Similar themes are common in Cirque du Soleil and other shows.

 The collection of aerial acts included standard apparatuses such as aerial trapeze, hoop, and fabrics. And there were also some unique apparatus combinations, such as four sets of aerial hammocks and two sets of aerial fabrics, all hanging from a wide bar that spun in place. There was also some acro partner work and some dance. I appreciated the variety and the creative use of combined aerial apparatuses.

 My favorite piece included four aerialists on a double trapeze. Their costuming and character approach was charmingly reminiscent of vintage circus performers. In addition to precise and well-practiced choreography that was performed in coordination with the music, what made this piece stand out was how the performers connected with the audience through eye contact, and by providing applause cues via ‘ta-da’ movements (for example, jazz hands shooting out on all sides). Their playful, showy, confident attitude was inviting and enjoyable.

 Areas in which I hope this group will continue to improve include flexibility (specifically of the feet and legs) and character, which felt shallow at times. On the other hand, commendable elements of Illusions included strength, bravery, skill at aerial tricks, and connecting the show with the concept of the wandering woman and the top hat man.

Kendall Fischer is the artistic director of Myriad Dance Company. In addition to dancing with Myriad, she also performs with Voodoo Productions, and has enjoyed opportunities with SBDance, Municipal Ballet Co, and La Rouge Entertainment, among others.

Ballet West: Aladdin

On Thursday night I went to Aladdin with my mom. Before I saw the dance, I saw the movie and they are different. In the dance, characters have different names -- Aladdin’s monkey is called Malik, Jafar is called The Sorcerer, and Princess Jasmine’s name is Kalila. The dance is also different because they defeat the Sorcerer by making him a rat instead of turning him into a Genie.

In the dance there are two genies -- the genie of the lamp and the genie of the ring. The genie of the ring is small and he was my favorite character. The way he was called was cool -- the dancers crossed their hands and twinkled their fingers. The little genie danced sharp and serious.

Other kids might like the Sorcerer because he wears jewels and has an evil laugh. They might also like the parts with a camel and snake because kids like animals and they were cool and funny. The snake dancer had a fake snake head and wiggled her arms. The camel had one dancer at the top and one at the bottom and they kicked their legs.

The part I liked best was the fighting with swords and the machines that made it smoky.

Other kids might not like the wedding because it’s the longest part and the most boring, even though the dancers were pretty. Other kids might be confused about why the narrator says there are slaves dressed in pink, that didn’t seem like slavery to me, but it is a fairy tale.

I think kids should go see Aladdin because it’s only an hour, there are some funny parts, and the dancers did a good job.  

Anderson Garrett is a first grader at Washington Elementary; he has taken creative dance class at Tanner Dance and tap at Janet Gray Studios.

Ballet West’s annual Family Series is designed to present a complete story ballet with just an hour running time. Ballet West II dancers perform alongside Ballet West Academy students in Aladdin through this Sunday, October 22nd: https://balletwest.org/events/aladdin2017.