EIGHT/MOVES
Z Space, San Francisco
August 16th, 2024
While a new dance company vaulted onto the San Francisco contemporary dance scene this past weekend, the artistic visionary behind this endeavor is no stranger to audiences. With a resume that includes stints with top regional dance institutions (like ODC/Dance, Post:Ballet and Robert Moses’ KIN), Mia J. Chong is beloved in her community and in Bay Area performance spaces. You could feel that admiration and affection percolating in Z Space on Friday night as EIGHT/MOVES offered their inaugural performance. Filled with poise, confidence and joy, Chong greeted the crowd and shared her mission for EIGHT/MOVES, noting that this new troupe would be committed to an unlimited creative environment where BIPOC, AAPI and marginalized voices could shout and sing. If the debut performance was any indication, this company is certainly going to be one to watch in the coming years. The program featured three premiere works, each one co-choreographed - for Common Gradient, Chong teamed up with Keerati Jinakunwiphat, Themes of Remembering with Rena Butler and finally Steam with KT Nelson.
EIGHT/MOVES in Common Gradient
Photo Maximillian Tortoriello
Common Gradient was my favorite work of the evening; a physical novella whose chapters communicated different tones, qualities and dynamics. Six dancers, costumed in dark pants and flowy silk tops, entered the space for Gradient’s joyful beginning. It was like we were witnessing atomic structures breaking apart and coming back together to form collective tableaux. Some of these living pictures would recur throughout the dance as new tonal layers and textures were simultaneously unveiled. Sometimes there was an atmosphere of caring. Sometimes of frustration. Of indifference. One duet felt quite charged, maybe even tortured. It was a fabulous start to EIGHT/MOVES debut performance.
As the lights went up on Themes of Remembering, I (and I’m sure many viewers) found myself pondering what the act of remembering entails. What is required in order to remember? As the trio unfolded, one answer was evident in the staging and the choreography – that remembering often involves searching. Searching for details; searching the mind; searching for a person. Themes began with each dancer taking a solo turn sitting in a spotlight, while they smiled upon an empty pool of light diagonally downstage. The moment was both sweet and poignant. And then came the movement phrases, which certainly evoked that sense of searching. Shifting gazes and altered directions; arms reaching outward and staccato reflexive motions. Backtracking through space, being propelled forward and throwing oneself off-balance.
EIGHT/MOVES in Steam
Photo Maximillian Tortoriello
Steam was the longest piece on Season 1’s program, danced by the full company of seven alongside a very unique guest artist. Chong had mentioned in her earlier remarks that Steam was going to mine the frightening truth of climate change, and to that end, Chong and Nelson invited an eighth participant into the mix: the explosive smoke and billowing haze that blanketed the stage from beginning to end. Composition-wise, Steam saw post-modern modalities meet with this urgent narrative frame. Sometimes with such topical works and theatrical elements, the movement itself can get a bit lost. But not here. The choreography was quite technical and aptly handled by the cast. One throughline that was readily apparent was that of purposeful struggle. Struggles to breathe or to fully extend. The struggle to stop shaking, stay upright or even remain prone on the ground. The struggle for balance. Steam was primal, a true fight against reality and circumstance. Beautifully danced in all chapters, a unison quartet mid-way through was a particular stand-out. Having said that, I did lose the thread during the lengthy middle sequence – its slower pace was interesting, though overall, it felt out of sync with the rest of the piece. And from time to time, the sound (though this was true in all three works) was too piercing.