photo credit Plate 3 Photography
by Gregory King for The Dance Journal
Self-described as an entirely volunteer run company committed to artists’ engagement, Bird on a Wire Dance Theatre added another bouquet of choreographic offerings to the Philadelphia artistic landscape. With eight months to realize their creative visions, and without the strains of financial burden, choreographers received both artistic and technical support from a tight network of mentors, in a well-tempered environment.
On Thursday June 9th at the Performance Garage, their works were HATCH-ed.
Although an advocate for platforms where choreographers at various stages of their discovery get to share their processes with Philadelphia audiences, I found myself questioning if the scene is becoming saturated with showcases.
Let me be clear.
I AM NOT AGAINST SHOWCASES.
I quite enjoy them actually.
But what I find a tad problematic is that feeling of familiarity that creeps to the surface knowing I’ve seen most of the works shown in some iteration. Admittedly, I attend each showcase expecting something different, whether it is a theme that follows through or audience engagement…something that sets it apart. But no sooner do these thoughts emerge, am I reminded of the advice from a colleague suggesting that I “check my expectations at the door.”
Unfortunately, that is not yet a skill I have mastered.
So I secretly pray to the showcase Gods, hoping one day, these platforms will merge, producing fewer showcases with professionally mentored pieces.
Strips of papers were placed on chairs, inviting the audience to touch, read…. sit.
My strip read “Dark, Vast Maze” and immediately my curiosity got the better of me.
Was it an insight into each piece? Whatever their purpose, HATCH was already different from other showcases and my paper became my ticket on a bus ride from piece to piece.
Choreographed by Lora Allen, Viewpoint opened the show and the memorable lighting design of Camille Gamble, stamped itself into my memory as distorted images projected with this use of the lights, climbed onto the backs of dancers Crystal Nicole, Alexis Dispenser, and Ashley Lippolis.
Because of the many forms of ballet/ modern hybrid that already exist, I struggled to comprehend what Katie Moore meant when she wrote that her piece Terra, was an investigation of her personal style as it was a “hybrid of ballet and modern techniques.” Nevertheless, I am interested to witness her contribution to the still growing concept of dance fusion.
Along with her cast mates, Temple Dance graduate Belle Alvarez recited stories of woodsheds, banjos, and car crashes in Passport. Writing with their bodies, each orator caught up with the group as they continued writing words with their dancing instrument. Having seen Alvarez’ works at various showcases, she often cushions her explorations with memories and lived experiences. Alvarez is not just a choreographer, she’s a storyteller.
The sound design of Christopher Farrell in Marie Brown’s Primal left a thumping percussive sound ringing in my head, long after leaving the theatre. After each speedy movement phrase, Brown and duet partner Melissa Chisena paused, before rippling through to a jerky, spastic pulse, making me curious about their impending journey.
Based on a poem by Linwood Smith, “The Dream Song of the Deaf Man” and choreographed by Sakshi Productions, Gestures of Longing was a kaleidoscope of information. Performed in silence, Longing was a delicate blend of American Sign Language (ASL), and strands of classical Indian dances. My lack of expertise in the traditions of classical Indian dances, made it hard to identify which was represented, but the pinching of the fingers and touched heels with bent knees, gave me enough to know a classical genre was present. There was naturalness to the mobility of Jubil Khan, donia salem, and Nandini Sikand, which could have offered a clearer revelation to the narrative. Although I wanted to know what the performers were signing, the mystery kept a silent promise and I was happy not knowing.
Bias, systematic, racism; Words used in the program notes for Mawiyah Dowd’s Depths of Equality – Part II. After checking my own bias and any preconceived notions, I stopped watching dancer Amanda Edwards (the only identifiable African American in the piece), and widened my gaze.
It wasn’t that I thought the piece was about her…okay, yes I did. But as the piece progressed, the chaotic, non-linear vocabulary became a suggestive protest in its urgent seriousness.
I have always been a fan of dancers using their bodies as instruments to create sounds. Unfulfilled used both the sounds of Break of Reality’s “Drift Apart” and those made by the dancers to provide a thrilling auditory experience. The dancers took their physical cues from the music’s tempo, delivering dramatic build with every execution. Melancon’s simplicity made the revisiting of each movement phrase welcomed.
As each piece wafted by, I realized I had no use for my bus ticket (the piece of paper I was holding). My thoughts drifted to the many ways the paper could have been used – how HATCH could have separated itself from other showcases … completely eviscerated their competition. But instead of dwelling on my own expectations, I allowed the words “Dark, Vast and Maze” on the strip of paper, to fall to the bottom of my traveling satchel.
As a choreographer, his works have been commissioned by Transformer Station (Cleveland, OH), Georgian Court University (Lakewood, NY), Texas Ballet Theatre School (Dallas, TX), Indiana University (Bloomington, IN), The Ammerman Center for Arts and Technology 16th Biennial Symposium (New London, CT), Current Sessions (New York, NY), and SPACES Gallery (Cleveland, OH), and presented at Dixon Place (New York, NY), The Kennedy Center (Washington D.C.), and Playhouse Square (Cleveland, OH).
He has taught master classes, lectures, and workshops nationally and internationally. He has served as dance faculty for Texas Ballet Theatre and Boston Ballet, as well as visiting assistant professor of dance at Temple University, and Swarthmore College.
King is a dance writer for The Dance Enthusiast, ThINKingDANCE, The Philadelphia Dance Journal, CHOICE Review, and Broad Street Review. Mr. King’s response to the Dancing for Justice Philadelphia event, was published in Conversations Across the Field of Dance Studies and cited in the U. S. Department of Arts and Culture’s 2016 resource guide, Art Became the Oxygen. In 2020 King was awarded a See Chicago Dance Critical Writing Fellowship and was invited to present his research at The University of Auckland, New Zealand.
In addition to having served on the dance review board for the National Endowment for the Arts, King was nominated for a Governor’s Award for the Arts in Ohio and was recently appointed to the Board of OhioDance. He was the 2018 recipient of the Outstanding Creative Contribution award from the Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Kent State University, and served as Provost Faculty Associate for the academic year 2019- 2020. Mr. King is a tenure track professor of dance at Kent State where he serves as the artistic director of the Kent Dance Ensemble.
- Dear Philadelphia…. Next Round On Me! - August 17, 2016
- Talia Mason’s Onion Dances: Dancing Memories - July 5, 2016
- A Response to Beyond Dance Company … In Kind - June 30, 2016
