Roseanne Spradlin presented four women boldly and wildly roaming a square stage located in the vicinity of the audience seated on all four sides of it.
The audience was introduced to a deep, low humdrum of a bass played by the naked Rebecca Serrell Cyr. These low notes gave way to the gloomy mood that encompassed the performance. Cyr, later, started to walk in solitude wearing a silver-beaded headdress, occasionally observing her reflection in the mirrors hung on three sides of the stage. Her confusion consumes the three other women who join her in the repetitive act of staring in the various mirrors. In contrast to Cyr, Natalie Green, Rebecca Wender and Rebecca Warner came dressed in costumes; after stomping back and forth in unison and screeching while scurrying in rambles across stage, they strip themselves of the garment one-by-one. Roseanne Spradlin exuded the “emotional depths and extremity” characteristic of her style. Indeed, the women infused raw, powerful emotion in explosive bits (Elizabeth Zimmer, New York Live Arts).
Spradlin explored the tension that transformed the seemingly innocent women into confident beings through the presentation of simple, bold forms and fitting music compositions. The four women repetitively bounce on one leg while pointing the other upward. At times when they gather together, pleading for help amidst the rampant confusion, two of them lend one some support as she attempts a quick lift in the air. Seemingly, they try to fight a threshold that continually suppresses them. The force of gravity, for one, is often emphasized; the battles they rage against it may be metaphoric of their struggle in becoming strong women. Furthermore, there was live performance of the song, “Don’t Take Me Over” that perfectly fit the dancer’s casting off their costumes and strutting their bare selves; Spradlin draws the audience to the appreciation of natural beauty that need not be “refined” by the artificiality of fancy clothes or makeup.
Spradlin effectively conveyed a meaningful message through the choreography of definitive forms that spewed emotional extremes. The intimate atmosphere of the audience seated a few feet from the stage contributed to the touching effect of the performance. Music definitely played to the mellow, profound and fiery movements enacted by the dancers. All in all, I was greatly moved by a performance I was initially nervous about seeing, considering the nudity content.
-Faryal
