Works and Process

The Whole: Better Than Its Parts

On October 3, 2010 at 2pm, people from all over New York City gathered at the Frank Lloyd Wright Theater of the Guggenheim to witness what was meant to be “an experiment” in choreography and musical interpretation. The Works and Process organization, which was founded in 1984 and has put on over 300 productions ever since, commissioned choreographers Jessica Lang and Pontus Lidberg to create their own, distinct performances centered around the same music. The musical pieces they were assigned to work with were forced march and the so-called laws of nature, works of the Pulitzer Prize winning composer David Lang. The question lying at the core of this experiment was: Just how different could these two performances be?

Simply put, the production succeeded in what it set out to do, but did not go much further than that. Audience members left the theater surprised at how a musical piece that was meant to lay a foundation for a performance could be portrayed in two entirely different ways. It seemed as if the choreographers had been working with entirely different scores.  That aspect of the performance genuinely deserved some contemplating. However, the “wow” factor was missing. The dancers from the Morphoses ballet company did not give us the kind of passionate dancing that sends tingles down your spine and the choreographers certainly did not deal with innovative themes and concepts that left you sitting on the edge of your seat. The production was a great example of a whole being better than the sum of its parts. Without the theme of different interpretation linking these two individual performances, the production would have been lacking.

Lang was the first choreographer to showcase her creation, which she nondescriptly titled Lang: Music and Lang: Dance.  She focused on the military aspect of the piece and her whole piece had a very aggressive vibe. The choreography was quite emotive and the army-colored costumes added to the overall effect. Unfortunately, the choreography soon got to be a bit repetitive and the dancers themselves no longer seemed to react well to one another’s energy.  However, there were two particularly powerful parts in the performance. The first was when some dancers walked along the wall with the help of their respective dance partners- making us question the strength of gravity. Another moving part was the end, where dancers formed a line with their backs to the audience and tried to move forwa rd, but struggled as they kept falling down. This choice allowed for another layer of interpretation- the audience’s.

Misty Copeland and Kanji Segawa in a work choreographed by Jessica Lang (from NY Times)

While Lang brought out the strong parts of the music, Lidberg brought to life the lyrical parts in his piece Vespertine. His dancers smoothly sailed through their routines and it was pleasant to watch. But although it was “pretty,” it didn’t have much substance. He had six dancers and chose to focus on a fairly generic theme-relationships. The dancers’ bodies were constantly moving and intertwining and yet they seemed stone cold. The most sensual aspects of this performance were the deep colors buried within the dancers’ costumes- and that’s not saying much.

Eric Tamm and Laura Feig in a piece by Pontus Lidberg (from NY times)

Taking both performances into account, one major aspect was overlooked. Didn’t having the same dancers participate in both performances defeat the purpose of the experiment? The dancers must have had their own interpretations and to a certain degree, they must have brought their ideas along with them to the choreographers. If two different dance groups had been used, would the outcome be even more drastic? This topic went unaddressed.

While both choreographers could have dug a bit deeper to obtain a more evocative performance, the production was by no means a failure. Lang and Lidberg both succeeded in adding different shades to the seemingly simplistic music.  It was also evident that a lot of thought was put into setting up the day’s events. At the very beginning, recorded bits of the rehearsals were shown-setting up a proper mood. Furthermore, the conversation with David Lang and the choreographers mediated by Nancy Dalva shed some light on each artist’s distinct approach. This was a smart choice, as it clarified Lang’s more “scientific” approach and Lidberg’s method of just trying to portray what he happens to hear in the music. Dalva did a great job asking some really insightful questions. Overall, the event was a success, but only because both performances were put into one package, with details such as the question session and the setting increasing its value.