Leaving the bright lights of the New York Live Arts lobby, the audience members of RoseAnne Spradlin’s beginning of something descended into the dark performance space. Passing the rows of unused chairs where the audience typically sits, this audience sat around the stage, a raised rectangular platform. The area was made smaller by cutting off the unused area with bead curtains, which RoseAnne Spradlin, the choreographer, said was an attempt to make the space more like her past performance spaces. She worked in small, intimate spaces before, so the setup of this dance was very natural. All the seats were surrounding the stage and in close proximity to it – close enough for the dancers to make physical contact with the audience, which they utilized later on in the dance. To increase the flow of light and enclose the area, mirrors were placed on the walls and reflective beads were used as a wall. As a nude woman played the bass guitar in a dark corner of the stage, the light hit a mysterious shiny object in the middle of the stage, and the show began.
From the beginning of the performance, the drama was intense. The woman removed the bass and gave it to the band. She stepped onto the stage just as the notes of “Don’t Make Me Over” began by the live band. She strutted toward the mysterious object, bent down, and put it on, a crown and collar of beads. Swaggering around the stage, she was joined by three other women, all partially dressed and looking far less confident. The women kicked and leaped, all the while vying for the audience’s attention and attempting to impress one another.
A powerful section is when the women reach out to the audience members, touching their hands, looking deep into their eyes. This is different from most other performances, as the dancers do not typically reach out. But in this performance, how relevant it was. Reaching out, asking the audience if they can see the true self inside the dancer. They are human, and this was an important idea throughout the show. The facial expressions were crucial to the performance, as this is where so much information about the dancers’ emotions was expressed. The fear, the anxiety, the anger – all this came through on their faces. One part of the performance also expressed these emotions so clearly. The women were strutting, then began leaping, screaming swear words and groans of sheer frustration. Their tension was distressing. Suddenly, a seizure-like attack hit them, and the women stripped into nakedness, stripping fears and allowing themselves to be free.
As they stomped across the room dressed, the tension was fierce, shown in their faces and abrupt motions. The nude women, on the other hand, smiled and beamed while striding about. The women cast off the ideas of perfection, using their differently shaped bodies to address and banish the notion that dancers must have a specific body type. The performance left all of the audience raving, as the ideas of the dance – that beauty and the individual go hand in hand – are inspiring for all.
Meira
