I saw the final evening of From the Streets, etc at Danspace, and was very glad to be in attendance. Unfortunately I missed the film and the first dance by Regina Rocke whom I met recently at the MIX experimental Film Festival in November '11. I walked in during Nicholas Leicheter, and I will begin by discussing each artist in a various section.
Nicolas Leicheter
Surprizingly bold, Nicolas framed his movement in a common 4/4 signature. The choreography most often moved with the music, with a comercial music video feeling. The dancer he cast was technically superb, and blew me away with his syncopated flare dancing to whitney houston's "im every woman." Not only was this incredible to watch, this white man dancing to whitney's rendition of the song, but there was finally a break from the boaring 4/4 predicatable movement.
Nicolas had a solo which I found quite incredible. I love site specific dance, and Danspace is based at St Marks Church, providing quite provocative architecuture for stories with moral implications, representations of good and evil and the church. Nicolas pulled of his pants, while standing at the alter. Underneath the central arch, he pressed his body face against the wall flaunting his backside, referencing gay male culture. I found the gesture so bold, and satisfying with a sacriligious glare.
Niall Noel Jones
Positioning Niall after Nicolas was a extreme relief for my aesthetic eye. Niall's movement vocabulary, pulling from what i saw as the roots of postmodern dance, with cunningham and rainer as deep influence. He began with a sincere momemnt of experiencing, looking at the audience looking at him. We were looking at him, looking at us. I thought that was a strong choice.
The movement continued in such a way, that I was not certain if it was all choreographed. perhaps structured improvisation? The aesthetic seemed messy. After watching a fascination with hitting the right movement, that in some ways illustrated a deep ego, Nial brought me instantly to the polar oppositite. Pedistrian movement. Then he would create dynamic change through skillfully executed pulling and pushing movments, which appeared as a fight. There was an element of play and curiosity I appreciated. I also thought the ending was a bit strange. He had Regina Rocke walk across the stage, walk through the door, and then come back, in uncertainty. As if she was not clearly directed. I appreciate ambiguiety on stage. The beginning was a strong moment. However, the ending trivalized the efforts made, as unclear walking, unclear intention, polite or shy ambiguety takes away from the unabashful frightening unknown so clearly illustrated in other moments, and less so later on. The work could use some more time to develop. I am however more curious about Niall's other work. It is not common to find black choregraphy working in such movement vocabulary.
Darrell Jones
Perhaps my favorite in the evening, Darrell began with a trio, and ended with a trio. The performers began with nude stockings covering their faces, with long black hair extensions switching from side to side as they walked across the floor in their sexiest strut walk. Ambugiously framing their face, the gender of their expressions was also ambigous, and perhaps mostly feminine. They then conclude this segment by pulling off thier stockings, and reformulating their positions. They continue with distinct movements of voguing, often facing toward eachother rather than frontward to the audience. The staging broke traditional western modes of dance, and not only reference the cypher and other african american routes of dance, but mostly cited the dancefloor and the club in its most realistic portrayal.
Darrell's lasting visual moment (for me) was the transition to laying out flower petals throughout the floor. He had two men sit down before the audience in the church. First they faced one another, playfully slaping one another, secondly they turned, nealing down before the audience hand in hand. Next they began to vomit. I found this image to be so visually rich, and provokative as it evoked the symbols of marriage, and I found this social commentary to be quite interesting at this particular momemnt in history, where we may be at the height of the debate on gay marriage.
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