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.
