A cluster of dancers stands frozen on the stage, their white costumes glowing softly within the darkness. Suddenly, a video of a face tasks onto one dancer’s physique, contained by the white define of the costume. More face movies seem on every dancer they usually start to emote, transferring eyes and lips round as their bodily counterparts stay nonetheless.
This work, titled Face It, opened the night time for UW Dance Presents at Meany Hall’s Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater (recognized previously as Meany Theater). Juliet McMains directed and choreographed this work in collaboration with the performers. The live performance options different new works by UW Department of Dance school Alana Isiguen, Rachael Lincoln, and Jennifer Salk, in addition to visitor choreographer Kiné Camara.
Face It makes use of extra video projections as massive white rectangles drop from the ceiling, performing as screens. Dancers solo downstage with wrapping arm actions and sweeping extensions, complemented by string quartet variations of Sufjan Stevens’ songs. Projected recordings of the dancers play behind every soloist, with the middle stage display being the biggest, displaying a model of the dancer twice the scale of the bodily particular person.
The movies in Face It are inclined to overshadow the dwell dancers. The bodily physique takes second place to expertise, and it’s unclear whether or not or not this that means is intentional. Is the bodily kind meant to be subservient to its recorded counterpart? Additionally, the motion decisions, whereas they match properly with the music, look like arbitrary. It is complicated how the choreography pertains to the idea.
The second work of the night time, daring little shadow, started with one dancer downstage and their shadow counterpart upstage, silhouetted behind one in all a number of lit items of material. The two dancers transfer in unison till the shadow dancer departs from the motion, piquing the curiosity of the opposite dancer. Their arms stretch out to the touch, and shortly the shadow dancer emerges by the material right into a duet downstage.
Choreographed by Alana Isiguen in collaboration with the performers, daring little shadow is lacking some relationship growth. The piece begins off robust by establishing the dancer versus shadow dynamic, however that idea disappears as soon as the dancer leaves the material. Later within the work, the material falls from the ceiling–a cinematic second that goes unacknowledged. The shadow world that was so effectively established earlier is solely discarded behind the wings. When the second and third items of material fall, dancers roll them up and toss off stage as if they don’t seem to be essential.
Once the material is gone, the piece not references the unique idea and as an alternative focuses on canon and unison phrase work. The dance doesn’t return to the dancer/shadow concept till the ending, throughout which dancers carry out a parallel enveloppé in shut proximity, virtually as if they’re all layered shadows of one another. Then every dancer peels off, leaving one alone on stage. The soloist repeats the motion in a extra subdued method, evoking loneliness now that they haven’t any extra counterparts.
Guest choreographer Kiné Camara delivers an upbeat, playful work titled Amapiano 101. The program notes “In Amapiano 101, our dancers discover the vibrant world of South African dance for the first time. Amapiano is an Afro-electronic dance and music genre, born in the early 2010s in South Africa, especially in the townships of Johannesburg and Pretoria.” This work makes use of the theme of a faculty. Dressed like college students, the performers transfer amongst tables and chairs dealing with a traditional white board.
Grounded and exact, dancers circulation by footwork, sustaining rhythm all through various dynamics. They are celebrating one another, at occasions performing in the direction of their friends on stage and at different occasions projecting their motion out to the viewers. Changes in formation and frequent use of ranges through stage props maintain this work participating. The dancers all look comfy within the steps, as if they’ve practiced them sufficient to actually really feel comfortable and let the choreography shine. Amapiano 101 is fascinating to observe and the motion is infectious! It made me need to dance together with them.
The Dream is Always the Same closes the night time, choreographed by Rachael Lincoln and Jennifer Salk. Dressed in shiny purple socks, dancer Eddie McClary perches on prime of a stool, showcasing a formidable one-legged squat. Meanwhile, performer Char Hertel performs the violin whereas sitting on a big swing suspended from the ceiling. Hertel swings forwards and backwards, providing a putting visible counterpart to the sluggish movement of McClary, who (extremely) suspends themselves right into a plank on prime of the stool, balancing with their nostril to the ceiling earlier than collapsing into their again.
This piece builds a world that’s equal elements ominous and dreamy. We meet an eclectic solid of characters. There is an echochamber-like ensemble of blue costumed folks. A performer that dramatically hinges ahead and again whereas seated in a garden chair, their hair flowing within the wind whereas a fan scatters leaves throughout the stage. A black and purple costumed dancer whose gooey inverted motion challenges McClary, till they ultimately discover widespread floor on the underside of the stool. These characters are distinct, embodying completely different demeanors and motion qualities. They embark on intertwined journeys that additional the storyline of the work.
One of essentially the most spectacular elements of this work is how seamlessly motion is used to create a throughline. The swing anchors the work, usually juxtaposing the pace of the opposite performers. This motif is visually fascinating, whereas additionally creating the shifting moods of the work. When the scene is eerie, the swing continues to be with nobody sitting on it–a creepy departure from the movement we’ve change into accustomed to. Similarly, the blue ensemble is commonly in sluggish movement within the background, complementing the opposite motion onstage whereas occupying a distinct relationship to time. This background choreography retains the piece cohesive because the completely different elements stay current even after they’re not the point of interest of the scene. The Dream is Always the Same is deeply fascinating and fantastically organized. It is the standout work of the night time.
UW Dance Presents runs January 17-19, 2025 at Meany Hall – Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater. For extra info, go to the University of Washington Department of Dance web site.
Featured photograph: Lou Chow in Rachael Lincoln & Jennifer Salk’s The Dream is Always the Same. Photo by Michael B Maine. Courtesy of UW Department of Dance.