Dance Review: Common Threads

by Mark-Brian Sonna of MBS Productions

The SMU School of the Arts’ Division of Dance presented over the weekend a choreography showcase of some graduating seniors entitled Common Threads. Since it was a showcase there were different levels of talent in both the dancing and choreography. None of it was bad, some merely interesting, but there was one piece and one performer that were phenomenal.

The program began with a stunning visual: hundreds of multicolor origami swans covered the entire stage in a grid pattern. Four dancers emerged from the edges and walked into this sea of birds. The music by Alice Coltraine was delicate and sublime, and many of the dancer’s poses captured the delicacy of the birds, the effused light, and the airy music. Where the piece falters a bit is in the transitional movements between poses. These movements are lumbering, and though enjoyable enough to the eye, they do not capture enough of the delicacy created by all the other elements. I know it’s important to do contrasting movements in dance, but here it felt heavy handed. The piece had gorgeous segments, but not consistently. Breanna Gribble was the choreographer of not just this piece, but two others.

A device used throughout the evening was some very short pieces called Seams in which a dancer, or two or three would do a simple cross movement of the stage. Some walked with a pattern, others were much more acrobatic. All of them were in essence a long dance combination carrying the dancers from point A to point B, and always in the same direction. Of the six Seams as they were called, Brittney Honora was responsible for the most visually arresting and emotionally insightful. Three women crawled, pranced, and marched at different levels: one on the ground, one with legs bent, and one straight. This piece that couldn’t have lasted more then a minute by its sheer creative movement represented the plight of women across the globe: Proud, independent, subservient, oppressed, etc. This piece clearly demonstrated the power of dance.

An intriguing piece was Time and Sense also created by Breanne Gribble. The piece was a solo. At one end is a dancer at the other a bowl of oranges. While the dancing was enjoyable, she incorporated scent into the piece, making it most intriguing. The aroma of orange blossoms permeated the theatre. Again, the movement was soft and the compositions were wonderful but some of the transitions jarred. The third piece by her closed the show and was titled The Underside of a Lily Pad. It too had delicacy and abruptness attempting to coalesce. Of the three it was the most successful. Yet again, it left me unsatisfied. She is a promising choreographer and still very young. As she develops her own vocabulary more and matures it will be interesting to see where she goes with this talent. She clearly knows how to incorporate unexpected elements into dance, they just need to be developed more.

Speaking of the usage or props: The second act opened with a mattress and box spring on the floor. Seven by choreographer Jade Curtis was clever. The bed was a trampoline which was an obvious use, but at one point the box spring is balanced vertically and it became a wall, and that image was startling. Ms. Curtis danced in this piece along with a female partner Trista Jennings, and they even were able to capture the feeling of two roommates in a dorm squabbling. The bed was used in every conceivable way to generate a series of obvious and revelatory metaphors, except one: as a sexual metaphor. Perhaps SMU didn’t want to go “there” or perhaps the choreographer didn’t want to explore that side of herself and present it on stage. Because of this the piece felt unfulfilled.

Trista Jennings was responsible for interjecting a bit of humor in the evening with her piece Da-De-Da. Jamal Mohamed provided live drum accompaniment while Ms. Curtis, the choreographer, and Brett Lord dance to the syncopated rhythms. This piece really worked. It was playful, athletic, and though it wasn’t ground breaking choreographically, the enthusiasm and the three very strong performances made the dance zing!

Ephaphatha was a complex piece of dance created by Tiffany Halay. It never bored, but it was, for me, the least memorable piece of the evening. It was enjoyable and athletic with some clever moves, but at times it was reminiscent of the great Paul Taylor. The use of a large company of dancers on stage can cause visual clutter, and she was able to avoid it, so she does exhibit talent, but there wasn’t the oomph of discovery that can make dance enticing to watch.

The piece of the evening that sent chills up and down my spine, that caused me to literally hold my breath, and make my eyes well up in tears was the sublime masterpiece of choreographer of Michael Wright called Loss. I was a professional dancer for 10 years of my life before moving into the realm of theatre. I am an avid follower of the dance world, even though I mainly review theatre. This young man has a voice unlike any other master in the field. The piece starts off with dancer Sarah Cat putting on a shirt. This shirt is made of spandex so it is incredibly stretchy. This may sound like a Martha Graham device, but Mr. Wright treats it completely differently. The sleeves are pulled over the hands and stretched so far it creates limbs that are artificially long and surreal. As other dancers enter, necklines are pulled, hands are thrust through the shirts making palpable hearts visible. The shirts are agonizing, comfortable, sensuous, playful, etc. As the dancers explore the various uses and emotions caused by the pulling and tugging of the fabric, one realizes that this shirt that everyone wears is our skin and body. He captures the indefinable essence of what makes us human and how we fit or at times don’t’ fit into our own skin. The piece becomes elaborate, yet the visual compositions are as refined as a Matisse painting, surreal like Dali, create pathos like Goya, etc. The piece ends with a solitary dancer alone on the darkening stage taking off his shirt and walking away. The effect is simple and devastating. In the course of what really were only minutes we experience life from birth to death. I will never forget this.

I did corner Mr. Wright after the performance to express my appreciation for his stunning achievement. He’s hoping to pursue his career in dance, not in choreography. He is a fine dancer, but his talent is in choreography, hopefully he will not abandon it.

The SMU Division of Dance has some strong dancers. They are definitely trained as modern dancers. Overall, the ensemble had relatively strong modern technique. There is definitely a vocabulary that SMU dancers have. The one thing that stood out was the weakness in the ballet training. Legs weren’t fully extended at times. I realize this is modern and a bent knee is common, but when lines were supposed to quickly go to straight from a flexed position, it didn’t always happen. The other thing that I could see lacking was the full understanding of what dance is. These kids are very good athletes, and have learned to mover their bodies in a wonderful controlled fashion. But to be a dancer you have to engage in the piece completely. There were too many passive faces. One need not make facial expressions, but a nuance, a glance, can add so much more. It’s odd to watch dancers whip themselves into a frenzy of angry movement, but have faces looking bored. Not all were this way; the trio that danced Da-De-Da were very expressive. There was one dancer of the group that really stood out every time she hit the stage: Sarah Cat.

Sarah Cat is quite tall for a dancer. She doesn’t have a classical dancer physique but she has such mastery of her body, and more importantly a true understanding of the movement. She didn’t just dance with her body but she danced with her eyes. Her phrasing, her commitment to each role was so true, that my eye kept going to her. I met her after the performance and discovered that she’s originally from Plano. Her goal after graduating is to go to Germany and go audition for a dance company there. She’ll get in. Any dance company that values a true artist will gladly add her to their ensemble.

After seeing this show I’m exhilarated. Great art does that to me. I feel lucky to have seen a great dancer and a great choreographer, and will be able to say I knew them when.