Whim W'Him company members in Kyra Jean Green's "Smile Club" photo @ Stefano Altamura @salt.photo |
If Friday the 13th
offered up any omens this year, they were all lucky for Seattle contemporary
dance troupe Whim W’Him.
The company opened its 10th
season with its fifth annual Choreographic Shindig program: three new works
created by choreographers the dancers themselves get to choose. This year, as
is now customary, the bill featured three completely different dances that
showcased the cornucopia of talents these capable dancers possess.
Jim Kent and Liane Aung in "See-Saw" by Joshua Manculich photo @ Stefano Altamura, salt.photo |
Shindig V opened with Joshua Manculich’s
“See-Saw,” a work the choreographer describes as a counterpoint between the
immediacy of a child’s world and the wider, more nuanced world view of an adult. Manculich depicted this, in part,
through the juxtaposition of melodic, balletic sections and interludes of
jangly, goofy movement. Designer Michael Mazzola punched up those tensions
through abrupt shifts in the lighting, echoed by changes in Michael Wall's score.
Cameron Birts in "See-Saw." I wish you could see him stretched out in all his gracefulness! photo by Stefano Altamura, @ salt.photo |
I was struck in particular by a
tender pas de deux performed by long-time company member Jim Kent, dancing at
the top of his form, and the ever-amazing Cameron Birts. When Birts unfurls his
long arms, or extends his foot and gracefully points his toes, he seems to
transcend his small stature, and he becomes the proverbial swan. Kent is confident in his movements, owning the space. (By the way, that space--Capitol Hill's Erickson Theater--is a dandy location for watching dance. Small, intimate, with seats raised above the dance floor. You get a great view of everything.)
Whim W'Him company members in Yoshito Sakuraba's "Laurentide" photo by Stefano Altamura @salt.photo |
All seven Whim W’Him
dancers displayed similar elegance in the evening’s closing dance, “Laurentide,”
created by Yoshito Sakuraba to a haunting score. This piece was inspired by the
long-lost Laurentide Ice Sheet which once covered most of Canada, and this lyrical,
highly physical work was a perfect showcase for the dancers’ versatility:
stately, poignant, technically demanding.
I was impressed by both “Laurentide”
and “See-Saw,” but for me the program highlight was sandwiched between these
two new dances.
Jim Kent and Liane Aung, center, with Whim W'Him company members in Kyra Jean Green's "Smile Club" photo by Stefano Altamura @salt.photo |
Kyra Jean Green’s quirky “Smile
Club” was quite a change from Whim W’Him’s usual offerings. Instead of
drawing on the company’s core—movements evolved from the classical
training artistic director Olivier Wevers and many of the company members bring
to the table—“Smile Club” seems rooted in a dance vernacular you might see in
contemporary hip-hop; the Robot, the worm, side-to-side articulation of the
neck, subtle flicks of fingers, arms and feet. The choreography might have been challenging, but these dancers nailed it.
Most striking, though, was what
Green demanded of the dancers’ faces. They stretched their mouths from grimaces
into grins, opened eyes wide in shock, dragged their cheeks and chins down into
sagging despair. These faces were mesmerizing.
With “Smile Club,” Green asks the
audience to consider what drives human emotions, how much they are external to
the self. In this work, as poignant as it is humorous, she stirs the embers in
search of answers.
Jane Cracovaner is molded by Adrian Hoffman's mad scientist in "Smile Club" photo by Stefano Altamura @salt.photo |
All of the dancers were fabulous
in Green’s piece, but Liane Aung, Jane Cracovaner and Adrian Hoffman were
particular adept at rearranging facial features and synching their bodies to
Pascal Champagne’s driving sound design.
Choreographic Shindig V
demonstrated once again the versatility and technical prowess of the Whim W’Him
dancers, their ability to not only perform diverse works but to invigorate
them. I’ve said it before, but it bears frequent repetition: one of the biggest
gifts Wevers has given Seattle dance fans is the opportunity to experience a
range of choreographers from outside our region, even our country. He
celebrates ten years of hard work forging this dance troupe by inviting some of
those creators back to the Pacific Northwest. Look for in-demand Anabel Lopez
Ochoa’s return, plus the Whim W’Him debut of acclaimed choreographer Sidra
Bell.
Woo-Ho! It’s dance season in
Seattle!
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