Modern Dance. You mysterious thing, you.
Event Review: Fringe Arts Concert 2014 - DanceFusion + 360 Dance Company
Modern Dance. You mysterious thing, you.
Modern choreography that is too obvious makes me think, “Okay! I get it! I’m not dumb!” And when I experience modern choreography that is too cryptic and bizarre and just plain weird, I may be saying “Aaah… yes… the interaction of the shapes was so powerful” while I’m really thinking “Wtf was that about? A stalker? The DMV? The fall of Nixon?!” Point being, while I love some modern dance, I approach it very hesitantly as a genre.
To me, dance is art, and I should walk away from art with a feeling, whether I’m a professional dancer, an acclaimed critic with a degree in dance theory, or just a ho-hum everyday lover of dance. I just want a feeling! That feeling should not solely be confusion. Sadness and confusion, fine. Awe and confusion, fine. Even numbness and confusion, fine. But just confusion? I’ll pass.
So, I walked into the Performance Garage on a Friday afternoon with very high hopes, but with a tinge of hesitation.
Gwedolynn Bye, Artistic Director and Founder of Dancefusion, began the show with a short-but-sweet introduction. She explained that the show was dedicated to Mary Anthony, a choreographer (and her personal mentor) who has just recently passed away. Even the short bio Bye gave of Anthony left me fascinated. Anthony was a modern dance pioneer in the 40’s and 50’s, and even caught the unwanted eye of the FBI for her political choreography! My kind of lady!
The first work in the show was a recreation of one of Anthony’s pieces called, “The Wind,” which is based on E.E. Cummings’ poem. The dancer began by theatrically reciting the poem, and then the choreography picked up with music after the poem ended. Anthony was known for working literary influences into her choreography. The dancer, Janet Pilla Marini, created beautiful circles within circles through her movement, and her long flowing dress provided the perfect effect. I imagine that when this dance was first performed in 1947 it was incredibly progressive; modern dance combined with a bold, unapologetic recitation of poetry. For me, today, in 2014, it was a nice piece; unique, interesting and pleasing to watch, but I didn’t get a feeling from it.
For the second piece, I didn’t read the title of the piece until after it was over. The dance began with seven dancers inside of a square drawn on the floor. They were stuck inside, at times, it seemed by outside forces, at times by the force of the other dancers, and at times by their own force. They exhibited curiosity about the “outside,” as well as fear, and even intense desire. One by one, they fell, jumped, landed outside of the box. Watching it, I felt the dancers were flirting with death, both terrified and fascinated by the unknown. The almost-creepy thing about it was that the dancers seemed to will themselves out of the box, becoming so dangerously curious about the “other side” that they tumbled out into it. Looking down at the program after the piece ended, I saw the piece choreographed by Melissa Chisena was titled “Parting is All We Know…” accompanied by a quote reading, “Parting is all we know of heaven and all we need of hell.” I definitely enjoyed watching this choreography. I liked the interaction of the dancers’ bodies, and the convincing concept; it felt real. I was pulled in and engaged. It told a story through movement and sentiment and I wanted to read until the end of the story. And when I was done, I wanted more. Well done.
For the next number, I read the title beforehand. “Ode” (1986) choreographed by Daniel Maloney, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. I loved 99% of this piece, and it was my favorite of the show. The solo male dancer (Omar-Frederick Pratt) began with awkward, faltering motions, and eventually transitioned into bold, beautiful, powerful movement. The feeling of the dance was conveyed so genuinely, and it touched me. I felt, as he crawled triumphantly across the floor, the awe-struck, emotional way I feel when a human wrong has been righted. At the end of the dance, King’s death and afterlife were represented by the use of two ribbons; one thick red ribbon that appeared on the dancer’s face to represent King’s assassination, and a second thin silver ribbon that seemed to appear coming from King’s throat, and then creating a halo around his head. The reason I didn’t love the use of these ribbons is because I don’t think the dance needed them. The choreography was so strong and on point that, for me, the ribbons were more of a distraction than they were an advantage to the dance. That being said, I loved the emotion I experienced throughout this performance and I was grateful to witness it.
“Half Moon Hanging in a Clear Blue Sky/Deceiving Frames” (choreographed by Martin Lofsnes, artistic director of 360 Dance Company) was a very theatrical number premiering during this show. While I didn’t understand parts of it, I felt desire, lust, passion, jealousy, insecurity, embarrassment, and longing emanating from the dance floor. The dancers were phenomenal actors and were truly committed to their characters throughout the entire dance. It was intense at times, laugh-out-loud funny at times, and by the end, I was surprised how much I thoroughly enjoyed it despite the fact that I may not have understood it all.
The last piece. The most technically exciting, and beautifully synchronized work in the show. Titled “Suite Aviation,” it was choreographed by Stephen Walsh in 1998. Very, very fun to watch. However, this was an example of a piece where I said, “Okay, I get it!” The dancers were birds. How did I know this? The cloudy blue sky background, the chirping in the music, the bird-eqsue costumes, the feathers strewn across the dance floor, and of course, the kinda goofy hand-flutters throughout the dance. That being said, it was just straight-up fun to watch. The choreography, minus a few hand-flutters, was playful, fresh, impressive, and upbeat. So, even though I will change the choreography a tiny bit when I become a world class choreographer (and maybe leave the feathers off stage), I smiled throughout the dance!
This was my first Fringe Arts show, and I was so glad I went. Despite the heat in the Performance Garage, I felt my horizons were expanded, I was visually excited, I laughed during certain parts, and I felt grief during others. And after the show? Fantastic hors d'oeuvres and drinks! The only thing I like as much as dancing is great food. I left looking forward to the next Fringe Arts Show that I’ll be lucky to attend.
You win this time, modern dance, you win!
Article written by Hannah Lorenzo.
