What do you get when two choreographers are asked to choreograph for the same piece of music. Well, two very different performances. Works & Process, “a performing-arts series that informs artistic creation through stimulating conversation and performance,” brought together the music of David Lang and two choreographers, Jessica Lang and Pontus Lidberg, and proved that theory.
The performance entitled “The Music of David Lang Interpreted” took place at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum on October 3rd and October 4th, 2010. Jessica Lang and Pontus Lidberg choreographed dances to David Lang’s Forced March and The So-Called Laws of Nature.
Jessica Lang, a graduate of The Julliard School, has been choreographing for ballet and modern dance companies since 1999. Her production started with The So-Called Laws of Nature and transitioned into Forced March. The So-Called Laws of Nature has a very simple and soft melody with a continuous ringing of bells. Though artistically choreographed, the overall performance was very controlled by the beats in the music. Each movement by the dancers was proscribed by the ring of the bell, preventing the audience from really enjoying both the piece of music and dance together. The audience’s focus was on the bells rather than the dance itself. Having a large number of dancers took away the simplicity of the music. The large group movements did not work well with such a subtle piece. Such movements were seen again in Forced March, a piece better suited for such dramatic arrangements. Forced March was a much better choreographed piece. The dramatic effect of the electric guitar was well mirrored by the different steps performed by each pair of dancers simultaneously. The audience could sense the chaos that was presented by the music through the dance steps. By choosing to start with The So-Called Laws of Nature, Lang was able to build up suspense and anxiety in the audience before getting to the more dramatic selection. Overall, Lang made a good effort.
The choreography by Jessica Lang pales in comparison to that by Pontus Lidberg, an award-winning dancer. Lidberg chose to start with Forced March. The large and complex dance steps and motions of the couple went well with the electric guitar and drums in the music. The audience could feel the tension in the music through the dramatic steps. The dance was not controlled by the beats. Lidberg went for a more emotional approach to the music, a smart call on his part. In The So-Called Laws of Nature, Lidberg chose to use softer and smaller gestures. The solo dancer was able to capture the serene nature of the melody produced by the bells. When the drums came into the music, he added more dancers and more complex gestures, creatively building tension in the piece. Lidberg was able to better produce a more fluid and artistic representation to the musical selections. Congratulations are in order for this amazing performance.
