10 October 2009

Modulation, dance dance dance

On Thursday I went to BAM to see Decreation by William Forsythe. From BAM's website :

"a work that challenges our notions of dance in the 21st century and asserts his place as one of the world's most innovative choreographers. A piece on love, jealousy, and the soul, Decreation explores the forces that shape and rend our relationships—with one another and ourselves."

The show was all kinds of amazing. It's hard to explain in words. Which is equally amazing. The work is based on the essay "Decreation" by Anne Carson (my favorite living writer). The essay is about a trio of women dissecting God, love, jelousey, heartache, etc. The dance is definitely about these same things, BUT it holds to a fairly straight-forward narrative of two characters int he midst of a breakup/breakdown.

The show's use of language and space definitely recalls the forms of Carson. The dancers moved about on stage in broken thought patterns, they swapped rolls, they suddenly yelled. They had mics. The room would vibrate from the noise one moment, then go deathly quiet for huge periods of time. The entire cast froze silently for what felt like eternity.

It was all over the place, a storm, but a perfect one.

65min, no intermission
Tickets: $20, 35, 50, 70

Go. Now.

Modulation (10/10)

I hear that you are telling me this -
See that park over there - the one with the yellow bars and the fence
I know a man who was beaten in that park -

I hear that you are telling me this -
Have you seen the blood - it was a clear day really shockingly beautiful
He was wearing a blue sweater -

I hear that you are telling me this -
Move - sit on the swings with me and let's never talk about it again
Hold my hand and swing -

No comments:

Post a Comment