SLC performers dance the night away

by Vivi Amranand '08

Tuesday April 8, 2008

In no more than six weeks, about twenty-five students created and rehearsed pieces that they performed on March 7th and 8th in the Spring Student Dance Concert. I remember walking from the show amazed and in a daze, trying to absorb images of controlled limbs within a sea of spoken words, black lace-chiffon, and plastic bananas.
Sophomores Mandy Hackman, Larissa Sheldon, and senior Elaine Ruscetta journeyed through the poems of Shel Silverstein in their piece “Enter This Forgotten Rain Beard.” They sailed from one brief scene to another, forming lively architecture that oftentimes dissolved along with Silverstein’s words that were spoken in a playful tone. This lightheartedness continued as Junior Michael Charles Foote performed senior Sarah Rosner’s “Lecture Demonstration for Sarah A.O. Rosner’s ‘Homo/Homo Erectus.’” Foote, adorned with a plastic banana skirt (referencing Josephine Baker in her famous “Danse Sauvage”) acted as Rosner’s messenger reporting that he is an exotic item in the dance community. When not lecturing in his endearingly sarcastic and unprepared attitude Foote demonstrated twirling, booty-jutting, and crotch-flashing moves. Although the pounding rain above muted talk about the choreographer’s work into a low buzz, I can agree with Rosner on one thing: we adore you, Michael, we do. Junior Victoria Roberts-Wierzbowski gave us a break from the talking with her lovely performance in “Atlas.” Accompanied by Harry Nilsson’s warm notes, she slashed up and down straight paths, sometimes only grazing the floor, and sunk back onto a fixed point on her uneven terrain. Her calmness within sudden qualitative changes and her sensitivity to every second of the voyage were a stunning sight.
In “Chalk” first-years Elan Kwiecinski, Kate Kernochan, and Leena Salmela gathered and dispersed, flowing in contrast to the repetitive, upbeat sounds of Ratatat.
Keeping with the pace was Hackman’s “9 1?2 Minutes To Go.” Ruscetta, Sheldon, and First-year Nick Feder were individual machines that formed and broke down at an even rate. Within the last thrilling beats of M83 and Yeasayer they finally assembled into one engine.
Foote and sophomore Ilona Bito performed a structured improvisation in “Michael and Ilona’s Dancing Machine.” They took turns shaping each other into whatever they wanted to see: butt out and bouncing, low crouch, spread legs, lower chin, look out, and sway those hips…, The pair watched each other’s solos saying so when they were bored or distracted. Hypnotizing was Bito’s daring wit: swift twists and squirms that she elongated and shortened, held and flung.
Short and sweet “Pa’ Mayte” revealed the sparkling presence of graduate students Lashon Daley and Jose Hernandez as they swayed and shook to Carlos Vives’s lively tune.
On a more solemn note was Sheldon’s “Like a bucket of water to an ant” —a striking sketch of melancholy and youth. She crept in with a tricycle attached at her ankles, then whirled up a storm, swooping and slashing amid scattered bright-colored bowls. Patrick Metzger’s distant pedestrian sounds accompanied this turbulent snapshot and faded as Sheldon continued on her way, belongings dragging behind.
Sophomore Theo Wilson guided our classical music listening experience from atop a chair in “Storm Session.” Wilson’s wild black curls bounced along with Tomas Svoboda’s piano piece, an enigmatic and explosive landscape. A passionate Wilson flung his limbs and punched the air, screaming “Here it comes!” and curling over the reverberating booms. Alas, the performer left us in darkness — a shaken and satisfied hum swelled in the crowd.
“Nora in the Corner” was a mysterious duet performed by seniors Jessica Hilbert and Ashley Beale. Tchaikovsky’s “Arabian Coffee” sounded in the distance while the couple traced separate paths: Beale’s was clean and linear, Hilbert’s coarse and violent.
Junior Jeremy Pheiffer and graduate student Jules Skloot’s “red hearts” was a gem. In matching red-checkered shirts the stiff, brotherly duo labored to retain their true feelings while residing near each other. With plastic smiles and icy stares fixed, their taut swings in unison hardened into stubborn leans. They made their way across stage toward a rapping stuffed rhino that boogied to his own love tune. Perhaps forced by the loving and loved fuzzy animal and his flashing red lights, Pheiffer and Skloot declared their love for each other through gritted teeth, accompanying the monotone “Love you baby,” with an exchange of strained shoulder slaps… Slightly adorable, wonderfully lethal.
Sophomore Aya Sato flung herself into the volatile collage “Yoshio Splendid” with Japanese dialogue recorded by Yoshio Sato in 1987. The focused and patient performer alternated from low hurls that stiffened her into shapes to light fingertip-touches along her bones. Unable to find a place to sink and settle, Sato left, conversations passing in the distance.
Bito’s “Yde Girl!” a visually startling collaboration performed by senior Katie Daniels, sophomore Kay Ottinger, Foote, and Sheldon, ended the night. Choreographer and dancers created the ghostly/goofy humming recorded by Wilson and Igor while Bito constructed the black lace-chiffon wear. Pulsing bodies curled and splayed, gathered and broke free, hinting at dysfunction.
Unfortunately, due to an injured dancer, Junior Naomi Fall’s “Bubbl-e-hin” could not be performed. To all involved in this concert, backstage and onstage, and to all the hard work shown and cancelled –Bravi!