New Choreographers Emerge at La Mamma
Review by Jade Esteban Estrada
Program B of It's a Dance Thing, which recently ran at La Mamma Experimental Theatre Club in Manhattan's East Village, displayed a mixed group of up-and-coming choreographers. The result was the emergence of three rising stars and a hint that the dance concert venue is headed in a new direction of yet more spoken word and poem integration.
The evening got off to a slow start with Cold (Work in Progress). Choreographer Luis Lara Malvacias of Venezuela created a type of realistic theatre where the audience watched two dancers struggle to balance a slightly imperfect pole on a table. Dancer Jeremy Nelson's physical strength was notable as he was carried from the table to the floor several times. Void of any apparent meaning, the piece was striking in its bold direction of experimentation.
One of the most brilliant ideas I have ever seen onstage was Rachel Dickstein's Innocents which was excerpts from a work in progress inspired by Edith Wharton's best selling novel House of Mirth. Consisting of four female dancers and two male actors the ensemble plays out the story of 1905 New York society with one dancer/actress playing the role of Lily Bart who loses her wealth as a result of poor choices in her extravagant lifestyle. Dickstein (who obviously loves this book) plays out the story choreographically and then suddenly breaks into one or two lines from the novel. This repeats until the story is told using only a handful of the most pivotal lines in the story. The result is riveting. Miss Dickstein is a theatrical genius.
Retromingent (2003) with choreography by Christopher Williams and Kindra Windish was a beautiful duet featuring the talents of Francis Stansky and Windish. The creative costumes also by the choreographers were flesh colored and endowed each dancer with a thick tail. Stansky's grace and power easily crowned him the most captivating performer of the evening. He brought to the piece a ravenous and primitive dominance that made him untouchable, violent and pristine all at once. The evening progressed with Study of Nothing I: Aoirt with choreography by Brooklyn-based Karinne Keithley. Dressed in a blue outfit that made her look like she was right out of a 1930s Spanish film, she danced her own work well. Almost as ordinary as watching a mother washing dishes, no one could take her eyes off of her short and studied movements. Keithley later returned to the stage in the same costume to perform her own Study of Nothing II: Luzern. This was very similar to her previous number but she used more of the mammoth stage, which unfortunately, made her performance less intimate.
Crawl with choreography by Shaneeka Harrell and Daniel Kubert seemed less imaginative with their choice of material and merging of spoken word with their movement. The repetition of the broken poems recited by both dancers and a gorgeous drag queen by the name of Lavinia Co-Op seemed to lack configuration of any kind. Harrell's small compact body painted the stage gracefully despite the overall dragging of the basic scene.
Sidney's Poem was a choreographic piece set to a poem. Created and performed by Sidney Boone and Pedro Jimenez the number recreated a story of a young boy's sexual experience. Without music, the piece seemed to require more attention from the audience, but the choreography, story and performance seemed too week to justify such a demand.
The third star of the evening was the incredible Julian Barnett who performed his piece Float with dancer Isadora Wolfe who followed the choreographer's mind and movement like a mirrored image. Dressed in blue street wear, the piece was one that could have easily found itself in a Missy Elliot music video but seemed to merit the most respect artistically of the evening. An evening of Dickstein, Stansky and Barnett would a compelling choice to entertain the hungry lot of dance enthusiasts in the Big Apple. But how would I have experienced these artists if I had not gone to see this show? True genius is so silent. Sometimes, too silent.
"It's a Dance Thing" played December 26-28, 2003 at La Mamma Experimental Theatre Club located at 74A East 4th Street in Manhattan's East Village in New York City. For more information on this theatre log onto www.lamamma.org.
Jade Esteban Estrada's music can be heard on the Golden Globe and Emmy-award winning police drama THE SHIELD on FX. He can be reached at jade@getjaded.com.
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