Nothing is more revealing than movement. - Martha Graham
“Selon Desir” had me the minute the dancers made their entrance onto the stage. The costumes immediately grabbed my attention and maintained it; the fluid movement pulled me in with the rhythm of the music. The man with the red mullet helped too. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy the second piece, “Para-Dice” wasn’t what I had hoped for and had let me down, both in the physical dance aspects as well as the aesthetic (the costumes were underwhelming in my opinion). I liked the use of loose, pleated silk skirts and billowy, sometimes color contrasting tops. The costumes moved independently of the dancer yet in time with the music. For some reason I couldn’t stop watching the skirts sway. As I recall, the second piece was the quickest. While I am a fan of modern dance and progressive and interpretive movement, I tend to loose focus when dancers don’t keep up some sort of continuous, quick movement. In the first piece I remember a lot of still moments in which I completely lost interest in the piece and would let my mind wander off to other thoughts; however, in the second piece, the continuity in the movement kept me watching. The dancers male-female, female-female, and male-male interaction was intriguing, as was the lifting-up of some women so as to present them to some sort of god. I disagree with Simone in that I didn’t find the dance sacreligious or blasphemous. I think the title’s translation “according to desire” correlates to the dances sexual undertones. It, like the other two pieces although from different choreographers, all suggested in one form or other sex. Whether through violence or passion, “Para-Dice”, “Selon Desir”, and “Loin” were all equally suggestive of sex. When looking at “Selon Desir” from a religious aspect, I can understand the opposition one might have toward the piece, but I think that modern dance usually is controversial. To see it from a religious viewpoint is only going to lead to disappointment, in my opinion. My favorite part of the entire piece was the movement in which the dancers leaped into a circle (I saw it as a whirlpool or sort of wind tunnel) and would leap around in harmony until they’d gracefully leap off stage. The simultaneous repetition and timing was hypnotizing. Most of all, though, I just loved the costumes.
-Casey Detrow
October 30th, 2007 at 2:45 pm