presented by LEVYdance
June 26th,
2014
Z Space, San Francisco
The contemporary
choreographer is charged with a multitude of tasks, one of which is the search
for project collaborators. Composers, costume designers, set builders, dancers,
musicians, visual artists – a whole team of individuals is usually required in
order to bring an idea to the stage. But the most important consideration in
this quest is that each chosen collaboration makes sense for and in the work.
Seems obvious. Yet, there are so many multi-disciplined productions, with
collaborations (while interesting and artistically challenging in their own
right) that simply do not contribute to the dance in question. Instead, they
read as a peripheral afterthought, unrelated stimuli, not at all integrated
into the piece.
LEVYdance’s newest evening-length
production, “Soar”, directed and choreographed by Associate Director Scott
Marlowe, is all about collaboration, and his concept worked. Ben Juodvalkis did
an original score; Amanda Ramirez, the costumes; Grant Diffendaffer, the set
design; eleven dancers performed; three additional choreographers contributed
movement vocabulary. But the most significant collaboration was also the most
unusual and the most risky – that between “Soar” and its audience. Throughout
the fifty-minute piece, the audience was asked to make decisions that ultimately
defined which performance they saw. Viewer choice and responsibility transformed
every audience member into an ‘active’ collaborator, and it paid off. Each
individual’s experience with “Soar” was unique, and the following description
outlines my journey through the work.
Upon entering the space,
the audience encountered seating arranged on the stage, in the round, with
specific stools designated for the dancers. So, the first choice was how close
(or far away) you wanted to sit from one of the performers. As the lights rose
and “Soar” began, flying sound effects underscored the first wave-styled
movements. Starting seated with just the upper body, these reactions and
adjustments quickly crescendoed to standing and next, to a running circuit. The
set of concentric circles created a real-life oscillating fan, complete with a
palpable breeze. Following this motif, the cast of eleven was parsed into
solos, duets, trios and quartets all over the stage space. And again, your
original choice of seating determined which of these dances would be visible to
you and which would be obscured. Trust and vulnerability were common in each
excerpt, though the scope, intention and dynamics varied greatly. Three women
center stage exuded a sense of urgency and passion while the upstage quartet’s
‘domino’ falls gave way to calm and acquiescence. Then, Marlowe, Michaela Burns
and Yu Kondo Reigen (the three LEVYdance company artists) cycled through a
choreographic phrase that spoke of penetrating desire.
As that first chapter
came to a close, the performers led each audience member to a new vantage
point, simply asking them to choose ‘red’ or ‘blue’. While in some cases, these
longer transitions can break the momentum of the work, in “Soar” the
participatory exercise allowed for a smooth, real and organic progression to
the next section of the dance. Once everyone was seated, the center black
curtain closed, dividing the space in half and determining which of the two
choreographic sequences we would see, and which one we would miss. On the ‘red’
side, a casual, yet genuine game of ‘spin the bottle’ emerged while first one,
and then two performers remained outside of the circle. The game continued while
Marlowe and Reigen engaged in a dramatic yet playful pas de deux. Each of the
two groups was sharing the same space, but they were entirely separate and
somewhat unaware of each other. There was a relatable sense of being physically
together, yet emotionally apart. When this lengthy segment was finished, the
center curtain opened to reveal the scene from the other side of the stage. In
that instant, each group knew they had seen something completely different.
The audience’s third
re-positioning was an instruction to choose one large square of light and stand
within it. With no ‘front’, a sexy, intoxicating, animalistic trance unfurled
all over the room, driven from intensely internal impulses. And the last
arrangement saw the audience against the two side walls for the ending, which
was incidentally the best dancing sequence in “Soar”. Unison was mixed with
canoned material, at different facings and levels. An
already very good finale then
became great. As two tables were nested in the center, each performer took
turns vaulting into the air and being caught by other cast members. It was a super
joyful expression of falling forward in space, rather than away from something.
LEVYdance Photo: David DeSilva |
Marlowe’s concept of
audience collaboration in “Soar” was terrific. The logistics went off without a
hitch and creating a successful link between choice and outcome is important in
twenty-first century dance performance. But there was something else going on,
something besides collaboration that also made “Soar” a conceptual success.
This contemporary dance work really examined the word ‘soar’ from a three
hundred and sixty degree perspective. Soaring happens in a variety of ways; it
is not only about flying. Soaring is being carried, walking, falling, flapping,
being thrown, being caught, running. Marlowe’s “Soar” for LEVYdance is about
living to the fullest and thriving in any environment – a composition that
seeks (and gains) a complete, full understanding of this single word.
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