Are Creative Sources Necessary Info?, thoughts on Karole Armitage, Christopher Williams, Donna Uchizono
http://www.thirteen.org/sundayarts/blog/ballet/are-creative-sources-necessary-info/851/
When creating a dance, what do choreographers tap for material? And is it important that this comes across in the work, or is it OK to remove it, like a balloon from a paper mâche globe?
Contemporary dance casts such a wide net that it’s impossible to typify the process for choosing subject matter (if any), or how much of the original impetus is legible in the end result. Some performances I saw last week show how some artists have dealt with this process: Karole Armitage at Cedar Lake, Donna Uchizono at BAC/The Kitchen, and Christopher Williams at DNA.
Armitage’s company performed under the auspices of, interestingly enough, the World Science Festival. Three Theories‘ sections — “Relativity,” “Quantum,” and “String” — were inspired by relativity, quantum mechanics, and string theory as outlined in Brian Greene’s book,The Elegant Universe. Armitage purportedly incorporated specific concepts from each to create movement. I can’t say that I could read any of them, but I felt a kind of progression from section to section — after what Armitage noted was the “big bang,” from a searching, trial and error feel, through more organized and focused intent between the dancers, to organized lines and patterns. They changed from black bikinis to white tanks and briefs, which seemed to signal some form of enlightenment. But its trajectory was gratifying to watch, especially on her incredible dancers, whether or not the mental blueprint came across.
Christopher Williams departs from most of his peers by dipping into history, religion, and literature for source material. His opuses on female and male saints have themselves gained some legend in the dance world for their ambition in terms of casting, costuming, and overall scale. He showed two new works at DNA: Gobbledygook, in progress, and the premiere ofHen’s Teeth. The first contrasted a naked Adam Weinert throwing himself against a wall with the commanding Eikazu Nakamura speaking verse to atone for suffering and while doing movement that hovered between ritual and martial arts.
In the Howard Gilman studio space at BAC, the stage is a catwalk down the center, from which the audience, in parallel rows facing in, is walled off by a yard-high length of paper (set design by Ronnie Gensler). Thus we can really only see Anna Carapetyan and Savina Theodorou’s cameos as they undulate their arms and dip their heads, moving along the paper’s length to beachy sounds or plangent strummed guitar (by James Lo). Hristoula Harakas, facing backward, and Uchizono (performing for the first time in a decade) traverse the strip at a glacial pace, related and yet distant, until Uchizono freezes as an array of fluorescent tubes lights up and Harakas disappears. It’s one of many moments that hint at relationships near and far, journeys, and loss and mortality, without specifying anything at all. Carapetyan and Theodorou carry jugs on their heads and offer water to each of us without pouring any. This segment ends memorably with their abstracted legs waving and twining, reminiscent of synchronized swimming. Wendy Winters designed the breezy white leotards and tunics, embellished with crystals and winglets.