a response to responses

i'm sorry my opinions have offended some readers. but in the same respect, i am happy my writing about dance has opened dialogue about recent performances. i want everyone to understand that my opinion is not the only one out there. when i attend performances, i'm not looking for extensions to the head and perfect feet. i'm not looking for the most amazing dance i've ever seen in my life at every show i attend. i'm looking for intelligent composition, even if the work is not intellectual. i'm looking for an appropriate level of technique that matches that of the choreography. i'm looking for a uniqueness and innovation of movement that allows dance to evolve. i'm looking for a passion and dedication to character that is infectious to the audience as well as honest.

A Disappointing Show for an Exceptional School

This fall semester at ASU began strongly with the presentation of work by MFA candidates Nicole Manus, Christina Harrison, and Emily Wright. Sadly, the Fall Dance Concert, Lyric Reflections, was a rollercoaster of strength. There were moments of choreography and imagery that were stunning. Then seconds later the audience would fidget uncontrollably with boredom.

Strong points of the concert include Michael Dostal’s beautiful lighting design, the technical abilities of Karen Schupp’s dancers, and the collaboration of Glenn Hackbarth, Natalia Jaeger, and Mary Fitzgerald to produce the work of art “The Weight of Light.” Plundging just shy of disaster is Aileen Mapes’s “Cajumbled Mumbo” and the reconstruction of José Limón’s “The Exiles.”

Major kudos to Michael Dostal for lighting all six pieces by making the choreographer’s ultimate vision become a reality. He helped bring the character out of each piece by creating appropriate yet bold designs, forming an atmosphere for the audience to become immersed in. The color choices were vibrant and superb, especially in Schupp’s “Earth Measure.” The use of the bright blues and green in contrast with the white provided a great effect on each section of her piece. In Elina Mooney’s “The Egret in the Living Room,” Dostal brilliantly divided the stage subtly in order to light the musicians, soloist, and trio simultaneously, without confusing the audience’s focus.

As for the pieces presented, some concepts were demonstrated exceptionally, while others confused me as to why they were presented at this point in the process.

Mary Fitzgerald’s “The Weight of Light” was a perfect combination of music, video, and movement. Each aspect worked together, creating an infectious atmosphere that keeps the audience interested from the first flash of light to the last subtle movement. The intensity of the performers lives up to that of the movement as well as the video/music combination.

In the same respect, Schupp utilized challenging movement technically, that demanded control, flexibility, and spatial awareness. Every dancer performed her movement with ease, making all shapes and lines of “Earth Measure” look effortless.

On the opposite end of the rollercoaster, two pieces were not ready to be performed. In addition, the technical capabilities of the dancers in these pieces were not up to par with the choreography. Mapes’s work had unclear movement, structure, and purpose. The performers struggled with the choreography on a technical level. It was also very obvious the dancers lacked confidence in their knowledge of the piece. This was very apparent during unison phrases. There was too much going on in all areas of the stage, making it difficult to decide what to watch. It seemed as though the gestural choreography was suppose to be funny and quirky, but because there was so much going on at once, it was too complicated to follow the humorous plot. All together, the piece needed more time before it was placed in front of an audience.

The historic piece, “The Exiles,” choreographed by José Limón was reconstructed on two ASU dancers by Professor Nina Watt. When reconstructing a piece with historical significance it is important to do it right. Not only is it difficult to keep an audience’s attention with old and outdated choreography, having two dancers perform Limón movement whose technique is not at the level of a Limón dancer is even more disastrous. Limón requires a grace, the ability to form stunning lines with the body, control and perfect placement, as well as the talent of constructing seamless transitions. Both struggled with these aspects of the dance immensely. In addition, the two performers in this piece had no chemistry between each other for such an intimate topic. This piece explores the relationship of Adam and Eve, yet the dancers seemed bored with each other. Much of the audience picked up on the dancer’s boredom and left as soon as the piece ended, leaving less than half the audience to watch the remainder of the show. In order to give justice to this historical Limón piece, there needed to be a great deal more time given to it before it was presented on stage.

On the whole, this concert was slightly disappointing being a mainstage concert at one of the nation’s top modern dance programs, and being an evening of work presented by five faculty members and one graduate student. There were beautiful, interesting, and exciting moments, but having seen so much innovation come forth from the dance department at ASU, this was not one of their strongest presentations.

Contemporary Dance Depicting the World of Vampires

Opening night, October 31^st, I am invited (as well as anyone else who attended or plans to attend) by Scorpius Dance Theatre to enter the “intimate den” or “sanctuary” of the vampire world. For an hour and fifteen minutes, the audience witnesses the story of a “forlorn girl” (Keri Fraker) drawn into the intriguing and dark lair of vampires, in the dance production, A Vampire Tale. Although the plot is interesting and the topic of vampires exciting, the choreography by artistic director Lisa Starry was rather blah for such a distinctive theme.

The first image of the evening length work is of the “forlorn girl” performing sorrowful gestures to music box sounds, giving the audience an accurate portrayal of her innocent, yet sad, character. Two minutes into the choreography, Starry gives into the music with movement that resembles a music box doll. Suddenly the dancer is doing light and uplifting movement even though the previous gestures proved her to be a “forlorn girl.” This choreographic decision was confusing and disappointing since the gestural movements started off strong.

Luckily “the watcher” (David Starry) enters to add an eerie air to the atmosphere. He embodies his character perfectly, showing his uncertainty about being a vampire through his curiosity and love for the “forlorn girl.” The two similar yet different characters and dynamics on stage provide an interesting contrast. In fact, each duet between these two characters was the most genuine performance and intriguing choreography of the entire work.

After the audience has ample time to witness the coming together of these two unlikely characters, the curtain opens to reveal a well lit and designed world of vampires. Although the scenery creates a visually pleasing vampire’s lair, the “blood klan” (dancers playing the roles of vampires) choreography was unoriginal and not nearly as exciting as the fantastic topic of vampires.

The choreography was cheesy. Starry presented a version of the vampire that was oversexed and tacky. Accompanied by painfully literal movement, the staging of vampires was boring. There are fourteen bodies on stage throughout much of the show. Having that many people moving gives the choreographer many opportunities to create unique shapes, patterns, or designs, none of which happened. Starry made the artistic choice to display the majority of the choreography in unison. Unison can be an extremely powerful method of presentation, but it has to be clear and clean. Unfortunately, it was neither of these. The diversity in technical levels of the dancers was such a wide range that the unison made this very apparent and distracting.

Even the dancers seemed confused as to what their role as a vampire was, with the exception of “queen of the klan”(Nicole Olson). It was not clear if they were supposed to desire the innocent girl, hate her, want to kill her, or all of the above. Even their focus was confusing. Some of the vampires directly connected with the audience through their gaze, while others looked past the audience, at the girl, or with an introverted stare towards the ground.

But not all scenes were a disaster. Like previously stated, the duets between “the watcher” and the “forlorn girl” worked well with the plot and the two performers interacted well with each other. Other scenes that were nicely done are the aerial scene as well as the transitional scenes with the “strange man” (Stjepan Rojko), but both still contain distracting faults. For example, the aerial work was beautifully performed and demonstrated the various talents of the company members. Yet, the scene had no connection to the greater theme of the show and did nothing to advance the plot. Aerial dance can convey some very powerful messages due to its ability to make a body suspend and float, that is otherwise impossible. It is unfortunate Starry was incapable of making the aerial piece a meaningful scene that was connected to the rest of the plot. Likewise, the transitional scenes with the “strange man” are amusing and Rojko is completely immersed and dedicated to his character making him entertaining to watch, but the transitions were much too long. Nothing significant would take place in these theatrical happenings, so the audience fidgeted in anticipation around me.

The most striking moment of the entire show came in the last duet between the “forlorn girl” and “the watcher.” The entire show “the watcher” is contemplating his devotion to the vampire world and subtly proclaiming his interest in the innocent and sad girl. Unexpectedly he gives into his vampire instincts and takes the girls life at the end of their dynamic and physical duet. It is surprising and breathtaking, a nice ending to a predictable show.

Overall, A Vampire Tale was a disappointing portrayal of the vampire world. The movement was entirely literal, making most of the movement gestural, predictable, and uninteresting. There was not much dancing, and no abstraction to the movement that was presented. It is certainly a good and fun idea to have a show about vampires around the Halloween season, but presented any other time of year in any other setting the show would not survive.