Hello again Michigan art goers! Break is over and classes have started again. You’re back to procrastinating, partying, “studying,” and skipping class. With all of that slacking to you might forget about some of the awesome opportunities that the university provides for you to do just that. For example, my next planned procrastination is happening on Friday, January 21st at the Power Center for the Performing Arts. Grupo Corpo, a Brazilian dance company, is coming to the University of Michigan for two magnificent performances. Grupo Corpo came to the university once before in 2002 and now they’re back to dance for another batch of interested and excited students.
This dance company mixes traditional ballet, modern dance, and cultural flair to create an elegant and sensual sensation for all to see. If you love the beauty of dance and a bit of Latin flavor, you should go to this show.
One last detail that you may find interesting; this is one of the many Arts and Eats events hosted by UMS. Tickets cost $15 and the seats are great + it includes a pizza dinner before the concert and a 10-minute talk by a seasoned expert about the evening’s performance. (Note: you can attend Grupo Corpo without participating in this Arts & Eats opportunity.) It’s going to be a great night (and it makes a great date night if you are looking to ask someone out)!
So once more, here are the details:
What? Grupo Corpo (Arts & Eats Tickets available here)
When? Friday, January 21, 2011 8:00pm
-or- Saturday January 22, 2011 8:00pm
Where? Power Center for the Performing Arts
How much? $15 Arts & Eats tickets, $10 Student Rush tickets
As always,
This is Danny Fob: Artist and Art Reviewer
A drop fell from one of the props (beautifully ornamented top-shaped glass receptacles with mini-pipettes that was suspended from the ceiling) into one of the huge shallow transparent bowls that were arranged in a wide U-shape around the stage. The bowls were filled with water and looked out-of-the-world in the almost-dark stage that was covered with fine white sand (I learnt later that more than 2 tons of sand was brought in from the shores of Lake Michigan).
Then there was complete silence.
Dancers covered in white rice powder entered silently like ghosts and lay in fetal positions near the bowls. To the sound of drops, they slowly unfurled themselves to life. And the journey began.
This was how Sankai Juku’s “Hibiki: Resonance from far away” started. To say, the first dance “Drop” was beautiful would be a huge understatement. It was mesmerising. The dancers slowly came to life- shown by exquisite but very controlled repetitive movements of the dancers rising up and then back down.
To summarise, Hibiki is about the stages of life expressed in a very beautiful, calm and slow manner. It starts with the showing the change of embryos. Then as they come into the world, there is tension and there is resonance due to this tension and also, due to lack of it. There are changes in the body due to its reaction to the world outside it. Then there is calm inner reflection. And finally there’s light and peace and we go back to where it began. The cycle repeats, as Ushio Amagatsu says, “this million year drama”.
Sankai Juku’s performance was mindblowing. The dance philosophy that Ushio Amagatsu follows is based on butoh. Slow controlled deliberate movements with focus on the execution rather than on grace and then repetition- these were some of the differences in his style. The dancers were all mature and older and the average age would have been at least 6 years higher than a that of any other dance group. I think hte experience of the dancers helped to add more gravity to the dance.
The music was brilliant. There were couple of themes (like “displacement” and “reflection”) which I found was too heavy and tedious for me. And the music at places sounded disturbing (weird too). But it matched the moods and the choreography so well.
The lighting arrangement for Hibiki was exceptional. For instance, the way they showed darkness enfolding was awesome! Two sets of screens were pulled in two directions( vertical and horizontal) towards each other over a lighted background (when I mean lighted, imagine the brilliant suffused yellow glow of the sun at dawn) thereby creating a shrinking window of light. And then in the end, there was light again!
“Outer limits of the red”, courtesy, “Pomegranate arts”
For “the outer limits of the red” sequence, red dye was poured into one of the bowls and the light shone over it creating a red glow which was in contrast with the pure white gowns of the dancers (they were all male but they wore some form of a corseted gown) and the effect was just breath-taking.
During the dance, the sand was kicked up a bit and the lighting effects made it seem as if rays of light were streaming through misty climes thus casting a very mystical and ethereal aura on the stage.
According to me, the way these lighting effects, props and movements melded together was what makes Sakai Juku such an unique group. Here’s something to think about.
“An embryo, one month after conception, will
change
From ichthyic to amphibian,
Reptile to mammal.
This million year drama,
Emerging upon the shores of the
Paleozoic era,
Is enacted by an embryo
Within a matter of days.”- Ushio Amagatsu
Isn’t that beautiful?
Do you know what I was remided of when after I saw “Sankai Juku”? Earthbenders in the series “Avatar:the Last Airbender”. (If you haven’t seen “Avatar:the last airbender” anime series,oh my god, what are you doing? But, oh well, I will save it for another time! :-))
Dance means different things to different people. To some, it is ballet or classical dance forms full of graceful movements. To some, it is an expression of their reaction to music- hip-hop, jazz dance, tap dance,etc. To others like me who are not so graceful or particularly born to dance, it is a fun way to exercise. And to some, like Sankai Juku’s founder Ushio Amagatsu, it is butoh.
Ushio Amagatsu
According to Amagatsu, the dance form of butoh represents “a dialogue with gravity”. Be it ballet, hip-hop, Irish dance or any other dance, gravity defying movements are a huge focus of modern-day dance. But butoh is about “sympathisizing with gravity” (to quote Amagatsu) and thus it comprises of entirely different set of movements.
What I feel Sankai Juku's butoh symbolises- embracing the call of gravity
Sankai Juku will be performing the work “Hibiki: resonance from Far Away”, at the Power Center this weekend. Be prepared for stunning imagery and some inventive and impressive choreography.
Show times:
Saturday, October 23 | 8 pm
Sunday, October 24 | 2 pm
Power Center
Tickets @ the Michigan League Ticket Office; more info on the UMS webpage
Paul Taylor is a name that is revered in American contemporary dance. He has done over 130 dances and is known for his lively, creative and powerful choreography. This week, the Paul Taylor Dance Company is in Ann Arbor. This will be a visual treat as the dancers are known for their athletic and powerful performances on a variety of subjects. There are 3 shows and each one of the shows offer something very unique.
Paul Taylor Dance Company
The program for friday has Taylor’s version of the well-acclaimed “Orbs” and another recent dance called “Also playing”. This latter dance is set to Donizetti ballet music and has an element of humor to it.
The legendary Paul Taylor
For saturday, we have the sizzling “Piazzolla Caldera” and a couple of other lovely pieces from Taylor’s vast repertoire.
I managed to make it to this show and grab the last seat in the nick of time by doing a 2 min 34 second sprint from the C.C. Little Northwood bus stop to the Stern Auditorium of UMMA in 2.5 inch heels (as to why I had to sprint can be a a story of its own by itself- but then, we are not interested and so….)
Just as I caught my breath and stopped the audible panting, the lights dimmed out on a full auditorium with many people standing at the back. There was a brief introduction of “Angika” (with all the funny anglicized pronunciations of the Sanskrit words). Here’s the gist.
In Angika, the dance performed is the over 2000-year old Odissi, from East India. This dance, known for its square stance and fast feet and leg movements along with its stunning grace and sensuality was a dance that was mainly used as a means of expressing devotion. It was a means to advance in spirituality and so the themes and songs that you come across in this dance are also of this kind- devotional prayers or songs expressing love for the Divine. Sreyashi Dey, Artistic Director of Srishti Dances of India, was performing this lovely ancient dance with her students.
As the kids in the audience fretted a bit, complaining about the darkness, a clear resounding voice beckoned us, “Welcome to the temple of dance.” The voice belonged to Martin Walsh, whom I last saw as a ‘Galileo’ in the Residential College’s production of Brecht’s “Life of Galileo” in March 2009 (Mr.Walsh was brilliant as Galileo!) . Martin Walsh is head of the Drama Concentration at the Residential College and he has a perfect voice for narrating.
The words belonged to poet Zilka Joseph and she took us to a temple where we were to hear the stories of dancers as they prepared for prayer. We could smell the incense and the fragrant fresh flower garlands that they had lovingly woven. While we waited thus, the magic began.
The sound of strong tapping of feet with jingling of the bells on their anklets came first. It was followed by the dancers, looking resplendent in colorful elaborately designed Odissi costumes. In an invocation to the divine, the dancers seeked the blessings so gracefully with slow movements and a lot of poses. The effect was bewitching.
In most Indian traditional dances, the program always begins with an invocation. It could be to to Mother Earth ( it’s almost like asking her permission to dance as we do stamp the feet on ‘her’ when we dance ). Many dances also include a note of thanks to the Guru (the teacher) and the Divine.
The second dance, called the “Konark Kanti” was about the Temple of the Sun in Konark, Orissa.
Konark Sun Temple
In Joseph’s Poetry, she imagines that the moonlight touches the figurines on the Temple of Konark and brings them to life (like our “Night at the Museum”). These dancers start dancing and the musicians bring out their instruments and even the stars get dizzy looking at this impromptu performance. The raga (melodic mode) to which this song was set was a very pleasant one.
Figurines form the Konark Temple
This dance was a wonderful one- so many moods shown clearly in expressions as well as clever variations in the choreography, as if the dancers wanted to show all the weapons in their arsenal.
The third dance, called “Manini”, the most expressive and I am sure, the most difficult one to comprehend, especially for a Western audience, was a solo by Shreyashi Dey. This song is about Lord Krishna’s beloved, Radha. She is waiting for her Lord and so she decorates herself as well as the gazebo and waits for the Lord. She is clearly happy anticipating his arrival. But as the time wears out (she in fact falls into sleep for a bit), her joy turns into despair and then anger and she flings all her jewelry and tears down the decorations. In the end, she is so dejected. you could say, “So it’s the case of a girl who has been stood up by her lover!”. You may be correct but here, “Radha” is the seeker who is searching for “the Ultimate Truth”, her lover and the story of Radha and her love are symbolic metaphors. Anyway, this piece requires perfect portrayal of the emotions that Radha goes through.
Sreyashi Dey
Odissi, is a dance that not only demands strength in movement, but it also requires the dancers to have good acting skills , as facial expressions are a very important part of this dance. Sreyashi Dey was absolutely brilliant in this song. The way she portrayed disappointment with trembling fingers, a heaving chest and eyes heavy with fatigue caused by unbearable sadness was brilliant. She ran through the gamut of emotions that Radha feels and at the end, when she lay on the floor in a bundle, totally dejected, you couldn’t help but reach out for her. This was a great piece.
The other two pieces were really fast and full of quick movements of both hands and feet. They demanded so much from the dancers (Kritika Rajan, Ishika Rajan and Debnita Talapatra were the other dancers from Shrishti Dances of India- they were very graceful and co-ordinated) and the stamina of these dancers as they moved through really tough pieces was something amazing. The choreography required co-ordination and you could find all the “yoga” postures from advanced yoga classes too.
Ishika Rajan, Kritika Rajan, and Debnita Talapatra
The final Pallavi was really intense as the tempo was so fast-paced and the use of space in this piece was very nicely done. The dancers were very cohesive and the symmetry of their movements was so beautiful.
So there was the really beautiful dance. There was some wonderful poetry that set the stage for these dances. Where were the sculptures? Though we saw some brilliant postures as part of the dance, somehow the message of the connection of the dance form as an inspiration to sculpture or vice versa didn’t get conveyed. Maybe this aspect could be elaborated in the next performances (which would be great!).
This was definitely a great show and the next time you get a chance to watch Odissi, please grab it.
It was a fantastic night at Necto (and I didn’t even stay for the dancing part!) thanks to the Stonewall Democrats. The Gender Bender Revue took place at the famous nightclub on East Liberty St. this Friday night. And oh man, was it fantastic! Drag queens and performers galore. It was faaaannnn-tastic!
Victor and Christian, the MC’s (sorry, I can’t remember Christian’s drag name, but Victor was Queen V), made the show so funny. It really felt like a classic drag show because of these two and their stage presence. They started the show with their own number “Janet Jackson: On and Off tour” in which both played Ms. Jackson, one on tour, and the other off. Their Lip-sync was awesome. I had never seen Victor do Drag and he and Christian both had Janet to a t.
Next, one of my favorite groups on campus performed, The Compulsive Lyres! One of our fantastic a capella groups. They sang a medley of popular club songs which was perfect for the setting, as these are the songs DJ Mark plays pretty often down in the Red Room. There were some minor technical difficulties, but the Lyres picked it up and plowed through it without a second thought. Great talent, excellent performance!
After them there were two more drag queen lip-syncs, A Britney Spears song-Toxic, and a song about girls and pearl necklaces. Both were very sensual and creative expressions of gender and invaluable additions to the show.
And then…Johnny Moans… A comedian. He was incredibly funny, he really was, but I guess I prefer a different kind of comedy. He used all of the stereotypes and infamous things about Gay culture to produce comedy, and though most of it was funny, he was incredibly obnoxious and oppressive….to everyone. Plus he had this really awful mustache :).
And of course, we had to have some Lady Gaga, so another wonderful queen got on stage and played his own version of Gaga’s songs. This medley put together “Telephone,” “Poker Face,” and “Bad Romance,” in a striking interpretation of her music. It was an acoustic piece with the voice of an angel (at the least the sort of angel you’d see on LOGO’s “Nonsense Revolution”).
There were so many great acts, including a Michael Jackson interpretation, a Justin Bieber impersonator, and a group piece by the E-board of the Stonewall Dems. They hosted a raffle with prizes and Potbellies provided food during intermission. The event was great. The publicity must not have been what they expected though because the turn out was less than acceptable. The Revue had so much talent and was set up so well, plus it was only $5 for entrance to Necto for the entire night. I don’t really understand, but I guess there are a lot of things happening this weekend, so many in fact that I have to pick and choose my own events. In fact, it is a very very busy weekend. Get out there and see a show! It is one of my very favorite parts about college.
As Always,
This is Danny Fob: Artist and Art Reviewer.
