Reaction to Troubled Times

“Gezeiten”, or “Tides”, is a piece created by the German choreographer Sarah Waltz.  The piece is a reaction to the tragedies that have occurred in the 21st Century, such as the earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes.  It is a work that shows how people are able to, or unable to, overcome the circumstances.  Waltz also included her own personal experience with a fire that broke out on a hill where she, her two children and her husband were.  “Gezeiten” is divided into three parts, each part reflecting a different style of Waltz’s.  The first part is abstract expressionist, the second is more theatrical, and the third is surreal and dream-like.  The TimeOut New York article sums up Waltz’s style as a combination of Tanztheater (German for Dance Theater) and American postmodernism.
Just as John Cage redefined the way people listen to music, Waltz is interested in the way dance was redefined as well.  She named Merce Cunningham and Trisha Brown as American influences for postmodern dance.  However, she feels that she does not fit in amongst modern German choreographers.  According to Waltz, their choreography lean more towards “soloistic projects and theoretical pseudo-intellectual concepts” rather than expressionism, which is what Waltz is interested in.
In the trailer of “Gezeiten”, which is going to be performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music starting Wednesday, the three different styles can be seen.  In the clip of the first dance, the movements were more coordinated and abstract.  The clips from the following pieces were more theatrical.  The movements and actions were more human-like, and it did seem as if they were acting out the piece.  The clips of the final dances was more dream-like.  In the scene where they had the fire, the movement of the dancers were slow, almost trance-like.  I thought it was cool how the dancers were part of the set shaking the floorboard to imitate earthquakes, and then slowly emerging as people who were buried under the debris.