Low DownThe BARE contemporary dance group from Washington DC explore intimate relationships in a patchwork of 10 separately choreographed solos, duets and group pieces. Brilliantly crafted and performed at times, this is a fast paced and dynamic hour of varied material. View it more as a rapid-fire collection of exciting individual dances rather than a cohesively developed idea and you will come away satisfied ReviewThe BARE contemporary dance collaboration from Washington DC present a variety of short dance pieces, aiming to explore the nature of intimate relationships. Ten separately choreographed sections develop the theme of maintaining identity and individuality in the midst of the stresses and dynamics of close physical conversation and relationship. Eight of the pieces are performed and choreographed by Stephanie Yezek, Renee Brozic Barger and Megan Morse Jans while two are the product of a recent workshop in Oxford for Freefall, a university-based dance group working with Renee Brozic Barger. The evening starts in bed, a couple’s movements mirroring each other, wiggling their toes, flipping over as they prepare for sleep. ‘Before Bed’ is a comic, playful and comfortable moment in the lives of a truly connected couple, their eye contact constant. Stephanie Yezek and Megan Morse Jans’s exploration of what it feels like to be in love is uplifting, as they intertwine and balance on each other, supported by complete physical trust.
If the audience was enjoying this warm, cosy mood, which they appeared to be from the amused smiles, then this soon evaporated when the major tone for the show emerged, ranging from distraction, to extremes of anguish, loss and struggle. Even our loving couple from ‘Before Bed’ are later seen failing to connect, teasing each other sexually in an altogether darker way in ‘After Dinner’. What happened between the after eight mints and pyjamas to make bedtime such a success., you wonder?
And therein lies the problem. While the evening, according to the Oxford Playhouse website aims to “examine the paradoxical state inherent in long-distance relationships”, it is pretty hard to follow this thread through the sequence of dances. While the Individually brilliant angular work from the fragile and powerful Renee Brozic Barger in ‘Triptych’ I, II and III develops its own escalating sense of distraction, instability and self absorption, as she gradually loses touch with the world, neatly expressed as, one by one, she casts off her shoes, there is no connection from this sequence to other elements of the evening.
Where do the Freefall dances fit in? While tightly choreographed, an achievement in itself considering they are the product of a two-week workshop, their relationship with the other fully formed compositions was unclear. Using local dancers may have connected the show into the city in an innovative and valuable way but the relationship with the other pieces was less successful.
A breath of fresh air in the now increasingly disturbing evening is ‘Like a Peach’. The music from Alison Krauss and Robert Plant lifted the mood as the technically powerful Megan Morse Jans, blessed with a wonderfully expressive face, connected strongly with the audience. So close were we to the performance in this intimate venue, we could feel her every emotion and sense her every breath.
Lighting in ‘Madwoman in the Attic’, a piece inspired by Charlotte Bronte’s ‘Jane Eyre’ and performed and choreographed by Stephanie Yezek was tightly focused, adding to the visceral and trapped sense of a woman at the edge. Elsewhere the lighting was simple and functional with the occasional carefully chosen device, such as the sun coming up at the end of the final duet ‘Thaw’ , a powerful and dynamic expression from the excitingly paired Yezek and Barger.
Overall what Bare and Freefall set out to achieve was wonderfully ambitious and at times brilliantly performed. It was never dull. But between me and you it was hard at times to connect all the individually engaging sections.
Reviewed by Alison Chapman and Paul Miller 2 April 2010 Website : |
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