First, here’s a bit of history on the theater.

Joyce Theater was originally a movie theater, built in 1941 and at that time called Elgin Theater. The theater was a popular venue for moviegoers until 1978—by that time it had begun to show less-than-savory movies and was forced to close by the community.

There was a renovation period between ’78 and ’82 when the theater’s interior was gutted and redesigned as a space for dance.

Once this period was over, the theater reopened as Joyce Theater.

The dance program consisted of three dances and excerpts of two more:

• Head Space
• Igual
• Testament (excerpt)
• What Come, Thereafter (excerpt)
• The Groove

I don’t presume to have much experience on the language of ballet, and perhaps I would have benefited from choosing another performance. However, I have learned much about the language through this experience.

In these dances, the performers wore leotards ranging from ample coverage to a very scant amount of material.

Head Space exhibited a confused man in a crowd of couples who were all intimately dancing together. This man took a while to find his way to a woman of similar sentiment. Much of the dance focused on confusion and hesitation, the man unsure of whom he could be intimate with in the midst of so many already-established couples. After he found his partner, the dance focused on their closeness, ignoring all of the other coupes.

Igual: I didn’t understand this one.

Testament was quite weird as it was performed to a seriously curtailed version of “Amazing Grace”, changing the hymn’s meaning by omitting many of the words. It emphasizes how the woman saved the confused man or vice versa. It was an interesting piece.

The text quoted below is the whole hymn as written by John Newton; highlighted in yellow is what was sung during the dance.

Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears reliev’d;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believ’d!

Thro’ many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
‘Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promis’d good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call’d me here below,
Will be forever mine.

 

John Newton, Olney Hymns, 1779

What Come, Thereafter: I didn’t understand this one.

The Groove is a view of the House music scene in Chicago of the 1980s. The dancers were more scantily clad here than in any other dance. One line of one of the songs caught my attention and stuck: “If only fools are satisfied, take my sanity away.” That conditional statement heavily underscores the human desire (and perhaps need) to be satisfied.

Group Joshua, Adrian, and Kevin