San Francisco
September 13,
2012
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| Photo credit: Anthony Lindsay & Wilfredo Pascual |
Last week, San
Francisco’s Union Square was its usual bustling self; tourists, shoppers and
workers all going about their typical routine. Yet, each afternoon between September 13th and 16th
Market Street was the site of much more than daily activities, errands or
sight-seeing. It became a place
where art and life merged and intersected as Zaccho Dance Theatre re-staged their
site-specific, mobile dance theater work: 2010’s “Sailing Away”.
Starting at
Market & Powell and traveling down to Battery, eight performers brought
“San Francisco’s Black Exodus of 1858” to life, depicting a time more than one
hundred and fifty years ago. Faced
with hostile threats and increasing racial discrimination, African American
citizens departed San Francisco in search of peace, unencumbered prosperity and
true freedom. In sharing this
historic event, choreographer Joanna Haigood has managed to successfully fuse
narrative strength and post-modern sensibilities. Not many dancemakers can accomplish this lofty goal and with
“Sailing Away”, Haigood has proven herself once again as an artistic
tour-de-force.
“Sailing Away”
begins with a tableau: eight performers (seven dressed in period costume, one
in modern attire) frozen as if they are sitting for a portrait. Then, one by
one, they break their position and begin to slowly amble down Market Street. Each cast member had a specific
trajectory over the seven blocks: some walked ahead while others stopped in
different locations to perform solos, duets or trios before continuing their
journey. In addition, there were also
moments on the route where the entire group came back together to form picture
vignettes.
Despite the
different configurations and physical vocabulary in the beginning of the work,
a common serenity and awareness was present in everyone’s gait. No one was in
any hurry, rather, each dancer grasped every possible opportunity to take in
their surroundings. Then, as the group got closer to the end of their path, the
movement and demeanor changed. The
forward propulsion took on more urgency, characterized by wild spinning lifts
and desperate chaîné turns. One
man, who carried a ship’s anchor throughout the dance, stopped to reveal a
violent, tenacious solo variation. Full of shaking, clenched fists, he seemed
to be silently screaming, “why?”. “Sailing Away’s” venture down Market Street was
a complex one: deliberate and intentional yet labored and haunted at the same
time.
Alongside the
costuming and props, Haigood used structural choreographic tools to highlight
the narrative theme. A dynamic combination
of solos and group sequences facilitated the story from both collective and
individual perspectives. This was
clearly happening to a group of people, yet within group, it was affecting each
individual in very unique and personal ways.
“Sailing Away”
also required active participation from its audience. Not only did we follow the eight performers for the length
of the piece, but we also chose whether to stop and watch one dance, or to keep
going onto what was happening ahead.
Your decisions, as a viewer, composed the piece for you: what you saw,
what you missed, who you watched and who you ignored. “Sailing Away” is not for the passive watcher; Haigood and
Zaccho Dance Theatre have created a choreographic experience that demands a
culpable, responsible observer.
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