Autumn For Dance
After watching four distinct companies perform their own genre defining performances at this years Fall For Dance festival I was left more impressed with how varied the medium of dance can be, proven by how unique each production was, than the actual performances themselves.
The program for Fall For Dance opens with the genre melding modernist production Xover, followed by the bombastic and colorful I Can See Myself in Your Pupil. The third production, Vistaar, a world premiere, sticks to a more rigid form of dance in the Odissi tradition, traditionally performed in India. The closing act, performed by the Miami City Ballet is the most mainstream of the four performances, containing all the pirouettes and energetic leaps onto the stage that one would expect from a major ballet company, but it too is also unique for the fact that it is choreographed to the music of David Byrne, whose mellow vocals added a interesting contrast to the animated dancers on stage.
Xover, the most experimental, as well as the longest running dance performed that night might not even be considered, by many, to be a dance in the traditional sense, but a melding of audible art, as well as the two different types of visual art. The piece combines the sounds of the infamous composer John Cage with the kinetic choreography of Merce Cunningham, as well as the static backdrop and costumes designed by Robert Rauschenberg. The three interpretations of modernist art in each of the respected mediums tries to transcend preconceived notions about the mediums as well as question the idea of distinct and separate mediums altogether. On an artistic level it is fascinating, but for those that just want to be entertained it is too bizarre and detached to elicit any meaningful emotional response. What hurts the piece, in my opinion, is the music by John Cage, which overwhelmed the dancers and backdrop with distorted voices, combined with loud, often random bursts of various sounds; It often made the performance hard to grasp a hold of.
I Can See Myself in Your Pupil was a stark contrast to the opening act. Colorful costumes, as well as wacky haircuts set up the mood for a fierce, wild, and seemingly improvised dance routine. The production’s physical chemistry and crowd-pleasing moments replaced the avant-garde intellectualism in Xover with raw fun and energy. The choreographer, Andrea Miller, did not seem to care about melding genres as much as hammering out the most emotional energy she could from each of her dancers as possible, then storing that energy until finally throwing into the crowd. This was done in the form of a mock kiss or by further egging on the audience with wild hand gestures.
The final two dances were just as unique as the first two. Vistaar represented the Odissi dance form, focusing on a rhythmic dance that does not change tempo throughout. The costumes, music, and dance fit more as a cohesive whole more than any other dance that evening, but this also made it less memorable than the other dances. Expert ballet dancers dressed in bright gold leotards, bathed in golden light, and accompanied by David Byrne’s new wave vocals performed the night’s final production. It represented ballet in all its purity and form bursting forth sunshine as over a dozen dancers darted across the stage. Compared to the other performances it was alone by being what most people would imagine when they think of the medium of dance.
Fall For Dance did not blow me away, but the varied performances kept me entertained without ever getting me bored. Whether or not you will like the dances themselves is really a matter of taste, since each company portrayed astute technical skill in their own genre. There really is something for everybody, and for those who are newcomers to dance, the four performances offer a nice taste of how varied dance as a medium can be.
