At a dress rehearsal on the eve of the Lang Fall Dance Show Thursday night, performers rushed
about the John L. Tishman Auditorium in a flurry of excitement and energy, eager to begin their show.
Although these pieces are rife with modern movement, they aren’t bogged down in symbolism, as can happen when delving into this type of a performance. Instead, these pieces are complex and beguiling, using the openness of the space to communicate openness with motion.
Drawing from guest choreographers Nami Yamamato, Juliette Mapp and Rebecca Stenn (all professionals who teach at Lang) students crafted their own original pieces, toying with movement, sound, speech and light in the composition of each dance.
These pieces are each uninhibited and organic. In one short solo piece, a dancer pulls off her black dress, covers herself with a blanket and eats a banana. This is all underscored by rapturous jazz-like drum music.
In the opening dance, intermittent raptures of spare, tribal-like drum music layers the deeply felt unison movement of the nine dancers. The lights also contribute to the dramatic sensibility of the opening. As they brighten, the shadows of the dancers whirl across the sandalwood walls of the auditorium, enveloping the audience in their movement.
Simple costumes are smartly employed so as not to detract from the composition of the pieces. In one piece, staged almost like a modern take on an ‘80’s workout video, three dancers move about the stage in sweat pants and casual T-shirts.
Another standout sequence is a completely silent duet. The two dancers wear headphones and they silently dance to the music they’re listening to. Because the audience isn’t privy to the musical element of the piece, there is a sense of mystery that’s completely fascinating.
What works most about this performance is that each piece has a like-minded experimental point of view but they are all different in subtle, individualistic ways that give the show necessary variety and substance.
The show will take place on Friday, Dec. 11 and Saturday, Dec. 12 at 8:00 p.m. in the John L. Tishman Auditorium.