WERK! Performance Festival 2013

presented by The WERK Collective 

Dance Mission Theater, San Francisco

November 10^th, 2013

This past weekend, Dance Mission Theater was home to the WERK Collective’s WERK! Performance Festival. A group of emerging San Francisco/Bay Area dance artists, the 2013 edition brought three days of cutting-edge modern dance by four different choreographers (Tim Rubel, Samantha Giron, Ashley Trottier and Alyce Finwall) to San Francisco’s Mission District. The final program on Sunday evening paired two exciting one-act contemporary works: Samantha Giron Dance Project in “The Dirt on Dorian Gray” and Alyce Finwall Dance Theater’s “Shapeless Crown”. Though diverse in many ways, both offerings had an underlying commonality: a conceptual, deconstructed narrative.

Samantha Giron’s unique blend of contemporary and street movement filled every moment of “The Dirt on Dorian Gray”. What began as a haunting and hypnotic solo grew over the dance’s thirty-five minutes into a deeply nuanced interplay of duos and trios. And whether one, two or all three of the dancers (Clare Schweitzer, Kristin Damrow or Esther Bramlett) was being featured, a single concept or image was clearly woven throughout the work: palpable anticipation. Peppered amongst Giron’s pulsating full body physicality were

Pictured: Clare Schweitzer in "The Dirt on Dorian Gray"
Photo: Adrian Mendoza

numerous instances of sustained and suspended positions. Sometimes it was two arms reaching out in the space; sometimes it was a tendu on the floor with the other leg was in plié. These were not moments of stillness, posing or waiting, but active expressions of anticipatory kinetic energy. Giron has created a delicious tension between the slow, pulled motions and the faster accented sequences. Neither was meant to be ‘the better’ or ‘the optimal’, instead the juxtaposition simply exposing the presence of both in the human form. In addition, “The Dirt on Dorian Gray” reflected a structural cohesiveness with some well-placed choreographic tools – repetition and accumulation were married with a hearty dose of accelerando and rallantando.  

Alyce Finwall’s “Shapeless Crown” explored the personal and professional existence of ‘the dancer’ – the expected and unexpected; the conventional and out of bounds; the real and the illusion. Her company of four (Julia Hollas, Vivian Aragon, Jackie Goneconti and Troy Macklin) completed a choreographic marathon of genre, style, humor and intensity. From a farcical bowing scene to supported classical pirouettes to contact improvisation pas de deuxs to showgirl kick-lines to musical theater jazz to dance theater absurdity, they covered a plethora of ground in one single work. A gorgeous contemporary sequence acted as a ritornello between many of the different variations, bringing the cast back together as a whole entity and back to the foundation of modern technique. And a delightful surprise came at the end of “Shapeless Crown” as this repeated interlude phrase was danced in reverse.

Both “The Dirt on Dorian Gray” and “Shapeless Crown” had inventive choreography, beautiful dancing and a solid conceptual basis. But each piece did seem a little long and perhaps in need of a tiny bit of editing. The ideas and images were very clear, and still would have been clear even with less material.

Zhukov Dance Theater

Product 06

Miner Auditorium, SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco

October 29^th, 2013

Zhukov Dance Theater’s sixth home season was all about newness. The two-night, mid-week run saw the world premiere of two works – “Enlight” by Yuri Zhukov and “Spider on a Mirror” by Idan Sharabi – in a relatively new (and super cool) venue, the SFJAZZ Center. Once again, Zhukov has proven that he is an artistic force to be reckoned with. Product 06 certainly gives the audience what it has come to expect from this great contemporary company: a stellar cast, an exciting program and dynamic choreography. But in addition, this year’s presentation has an underlying pulse of change; a sense of morphing; a looking beyond the status quo. And, this newness is unfolding in a great way.

Doug Baum in Yuri Zhukov’s “Enlight”

Photo: Sandy Lee

“Enlight”, Zhukov’s newest choreographic endeavor, confronts its viewer with a challenge: explore the notion of visibility. A soloist opens the work dancing in and around a square of light placed center stage. Following this first variation, nine similar squares of light appear all over the floor and the entire company proceeds to interact with them. Sometimes the entire body was visible; sometimes only a finger or toe; sometimes a full arm or leg. During the contrasting middle section, the entire stage was lit, but at a low percentage. While this lengthy segment brought a change in lighting, it also revealed a shift in the choreography as longer, stretchier, elastic physicality moved to the forefront. The addition of a strobe effect added an element of time to the exploration of light. And, the final scene incorporated a large white sheet to layer yet another aspect to the question of ‘what we see’. Throughout “Enlight”, Zhukov’s attention to level was captivating; lying, sitting, kneeling, standing and elevated postures holding an intrinsic place in his choreographic vocabulary. While the idea of visibility definitely has narrative implications, “Enlight” was more of a structural assay. The choreography and movement spoke equally to what is seen and what is not seen, and how that reality is in constant evolution.     

Individual idiosyncrasies and personality characteristics took center stage in Idan Sharabi’s “Spider on a Mirror”. The beginning moments find the entire cast scattered around the space making small body adjustments and minor pedestrian alterations to their stance. An unobtrusive shoulder lift here; a quiet foot pivot there. These small shifts quickly exploded into full-out variations. Though still initiated by those first motions, this time the choreography permitted a more complete and abandon expression. “Spider on a Mirror” continued in this clever fashion, toggling between the unremarkable and the voluminous. And with that back and forth also came the difference between observation and celebration. The small movements were simply a noticing of each person’s distinctiveness and the expansion of those motions was a tribute to that individualism.

Both of the pieces featured in Zhukov Dance Theater’s Project 06 were steeped in strong contemporary technique, yet, both also seemed to be slightly influenced by the genre of dance theater itself. Constructing dance theater is a complicated business, and there is often a temptation to either a) add too much theatrical syntax or b) add something new far too late in the piece. When either instance occurs, the flow of the work can be compromised and the latter did happen a little in both dances.

Nederlands Dans Theater

presented by Cal Performances

Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley

October 23^rd, 2013

Cal Performance’s dance season is off to a brilliant start with Nederlands Dans Theater’s two-night, mid-week engagement. These days, contemporary dance can be, and is, a lot of different things: mixed media, post-modern, interdisciplinary, dance theater. Though this variety and innovation is exciting for the genre, contemporary technique and contemporary movement can get a little lost in the overwhelming crowd of theatrical entities and performance tools. Nederlands Dans Theater has found the right balance. They are a true contemporary company – forward-thinking, risk-taking and cutting-edge – but at the same time, actively in pursuit of technical proficiency and clarity. If there ever was a company that defined what contemporary dance should be, it is this one.

Opening the program was 2009’s “Sehnsucht”, co-choreographed by Artistic Advisor Sol León and Artistic Director Paul Lightfoot. Created in Sonata form and accompanied by a phenomenal classical score, the work had a very clear tripartite structure, comprised of an exposition, development and recapitulation. Part one introduced a trio of dancers: a soloist, posed slightly right of center, and a duo inside of a large scene box that was suspended and inset in the scrim. Throughout this beginning statement, the scene box continually rotated as the two dancers performed a soulful duet. As the set changed, postures were altered; standing became sitting and then suddenly, morphed into swinging. Question arose - what plane were they dancing on; what surface was the floor? So, right from the start, it was clear that “Sehnsucht” was expressing and examining two different, but related themes: perception and perspective. And while the piece’s narrative and design challenged ‘what should be’, ‘what is expected’ and ‘what is’, the choreography was equally insightful. Incredible extensions and dramatic off-balance positions were coupled with low attitudes and simple tendus à la second.

Company members of Nederlands Dans Theater perform "Sehnsucht" Photo courtesy of Nederlands Dans Theater

As the men’s and women’s ensemble entered from the wings, the development of “Sehnsucht” was underway. Again, the audience was confronted with a new perspective and different perception – the arriving cast (both men and women) was costumed only in black pants. For this lengthy second segment, the stage was full of NDT’s remarkable dancers, flying through the air, eating up the space. Absolute wonder exuded during a recurring group sequence (developpé écarté followed by a side split jèté). The final recapitulation brought us back to the beginning scene and “Sehnsucht” concluded with a fitting cadence: the same contemporary pose that had opened the work.

This intermission was more than just a break, instead, it was an ‘audience choice’ situation. You could certainly go out into the lobby; however, if you opted to stay in the theater, the longer, twenty-five minute intermission was like an old-school, post-modern ‘happening’. Three dancers took turns slowly moving across the stage; methodically, carefully and at a snail’s pace. And while this Butoh-inspired pedestrian circuit was in progress, the curtain had been slightly raised, so you could also the crew transforming the stage for the second work.

As the lights went down, 2010’s “Schmetterling” (another piece of León/Lightfoot co-choreography) occupied the space. “Schmetterling” is a delightful and at times, very humorous, series of primarily solos, duets, and trios set to music by The Magnetic Fields and Max Richter. Another strong and clear narrative, the dance spoke to individuals and individualism but “Schmetterling” was not quite as compelling as “Sehnsucht”. Too much extra ‘stuff’ was present. The trench coat/dress/beret costumes were a little distracting, and there was a ton of ‘dance theater’ style facial expressions and vocalizations. Each of the variations in the piece was beautifully performed and creatively crafted and because of that, these extraneous elements weren’t really necessary. The dance and the choreography was abundantly strong; it didn’t need ‘more’.