Dance Review (Derek)

IU Dance Theatre 85^th anniversary celebration gala was held November 4 and featured four pieces: Esplanade, Rite of Summer, Straight Duet, and Nascimento Novo.

Choreographed by Paul Taylor in 1975 and performed to violin concertos by Bach, Esplanade consisted of four distinct parts, each with a different feel. The first part was dominated by bright colors and a light atmosphere generated by the playfulness of the dancers’ geometric movements. Particularly notable was Miss Lalah Hazelwood’s smiling exuberance, which set the tone for the piece. The dancers engaged in domino tag, touch-falling and rising, leaping into the air, and I could not help smiling in pleasure at the joy they exhibited. One of my favorite moments was when they moved in circles and spirals, expanding and contracting, occasionally exploding outward like a starburst. The second part of Esplanade was more serious, reflected in the more somber music, lighting changes, and movements of the dancers. Four dancers stood off center, two taller (a man and a woman) and two shorter (two women), which made me think of a family. Miss Hazelwood was again a key dancer in the piece, seeming to float around the other three members of the family unit, hands pressed to one thigh as though signaling some injury, yet ignored by them as evidenced by their non-response to her movements and her hand waving. The end of this part was the most poignant, with the mother figure extending her arms with hands clasped, pleading and crying, before sinking to the floor as the lighting faded and the ensemble dancers crawled ever closer, circling around and enveloping her as the lights went out. The sadness of this part was cast off in part three, which began with bright lights, quick cheerful music, and more exuberant running and smiling dancers criss-crossing the stage. There was again the sense of playfulness exhibited in what might have been a game of tag. I was struck by the image of one of the male dancers running across the stage, taking long strides with his chest thrust out, smiling broadly; watching him, I felt the joy of unencumbered movement, of running freely through the warm grass in an open park.  As the final pair of dancers met in a leap caught deftly on the left of the stage, another pair of dancers entered from the right, mirroring the pair exiting to the left. This transition marked the beginning of the final part of Esplanade. This was marked by a great deal of physicality between dancers. I particularly enjoyed the twin rolling, which reminded me of wrestling.

The second piece of the evening was Rite of Summer, choreographed by William Evans in 2005 for the Bellingham Dance Gallery. The dancers in this piece were all female. One wore a green slip while the other six or seven wore white dresses. On the far left front of the stage was a white pedestal with a basket of rose petals on top. I felt like the girls in white were spirits or represented the inner emotions of the girl in green. As they danced they often kept their eyes on the girl in green. Overall this piece was very emotional, with the dancers convulsing and twitching with pained expressions, arms outstretched grasping, yet restrained or pulled back by some invisible force. I was really impressed by the controlled body movements and poses that they struck, many of which were quite difficult; for example, they did many lunges and deep squats, which I’ve done in karate, wrestling, and yoga, so I could sympathize with them as they struggled with trembling limbs to maintain their poses. Toward the end of the piece, the girl in green lay on the ground in a near fetal position, and the lighting turned red. The movements of the girls in white became jerky, their arms pushing out in pain and longing, perhaps fighting their desire for the basket, but eventually giving into that desire. They lifted the girl in green and gave the basket to her. She sprinkled flower petals on the girls one-by-one, and then dumped the remainder on the final girl. Each girl upon whom the petals fell sunk to the floor twitching.

The third piece was titled Straight Duet, and it was choreographed by Larry Keigwin and Nicole Wolcott in 2003. Miss Lalah Hazelwood returned to perform in this number opposite Joe Musiel. Both dancers wore plain white sports underwear, and the only prop was a queen size mattress. At the start of the piece, Miss Hazelwood tipped the mattress flat and flopped onto it in invitation, but Mr. Musiel’s character declined to join her, which prompted laughs from the audience. The entire piece seemed to chart the evolution of a relationship, progressing from happy flirtation to angry argument, with several ups and downs in between. I had a lot of admiration for their athleticism, for several of the movements required a great deal of strength to perform, including leaps, catches, and “tension” holds (where one person supports another at an odd angle). The movements of the dancers mimicked changes in relationships, with moments of tenderness, support, tension, and opposition. At the end of the piece, after Mr. Musiel’s character held the wrists of Miss Hazelwood’s character and shook her arms, they went round in circles pushing to spin the mattress before finally Miss Hazelwood had enough, up-ending the mattress into Mr. Musiel’s face, metaphorically slamming the door, which she then turned her back on and stalked resolutely chin-up off the stage.

The fourth and final piece of the evening was titled Nascimento Novo, and was choreographed by David Parsons in 2006 and set to the music of Milton Nascimento. The ten dancers in this number were dressed in white tops and brown bottoms. They performed a hopping dance step with their arms raised and lowered. This reminded me of a dance step that I use sometimes when dancing to techno. At one point they were in a half circle, and took turns leaping into the middle to dance solo. The final song had some English lyrics, “gathering together”, and featured rhythmic clapping by the dancers, which made me want to clap along with them. My companion felt this fourth piece was her favorite, but clearly tastes will vary. I liked it but enjoyed the others more, perhaps because this piece reminded me of going to a dance club. As I exited the building, a man of possibly South Asian origin commented to his family that the music seemed like a fusion of Eastern and Western styles. I also felt that way because of the instrument sounds I heard. Perhaps some of the arm, wrist and hand movements were meant to be evocative of non-Western dance styles, too; however, I am not sure if that’s actually the case.