Springing Back to the basics

Lengthy program of autobiographical pieces well paced, substantial

This year's Spring Back Student Dance Concert is longer and more cohesive than in previous shows, with six solos, two intermissions, and a strong program order. Half of the ten pieces incorporate original text. In these five pieces, movement becomes complementary to the spoken ideas which avoid melodrama in favor of honest revelations. The excellent closing piece, a vigorous group dance which does not use text, successfully expresses a vision of society through the choreography of first-year Juliana May.

The mood of the show is established early on with Oberlin alumna Cara Perkin's advice: "Don't give into fear." Her solo If Ever & Always is performed with focused intensity to music by another graduate, Peter Swendsen. Perkins alternates her monologue about self maintenance with silences and with a humorous voice over by others, including Steff Haaz's memorable insight into the many sponges in her kitchen. Walking backwards, Perkins runs through a list of advice and her words are wise and funny.

Senior Jeremy Kucholtz spoke candidly during his bold solo, Open 24 Hours which began with an on screen kiss between two male dancers who stand before the audience. While dancing, he relays some of the things he'd like to tell his mother. Through that repeated clause, the audience feels the fact of his not telling her, but performing it for his peers instead. He is clear, intelligent, and funny as when he says, "Denice was Superman and I can't be Superman," and when he imitates the questioning gossip about his sexuality, his tone is right on. A lingering image of shy nudity supports Kucholtz's exploration which runs from gentle to feisty. He includes the audience with confidential gestures, but at the end he points at them, retaining the edgy quality of this piece.

Autobiography is employed again in The Current of the Past Down, a dynamic trio choreographed and performed by juniors Arielle Rogaff Heitler and Alyce Caitlin Medlock, and senior Chwee Sze Foong. The three women begin separated on the stage. After a blackout, spectators are confronted with the arresting image of them lying vertically in a stack of blocks. There are a number of lovely moments, as when Medlock is swung within her block to the sound of rain. The dancers speak of women and of water and the mood is supported by soft lighting. When the music by Malcom Dahglish and Glen Velez begins, the mood shifts and though they spin and dance more fully, this section is less powerful than the slow opening. The last movement, in which they sink on to each other and roll back like a wave, works well. While women and water is a familiar combination of images, this piece feels new.

In Process Going senior Steffany Haaz explores transience. Seven dancers, including herself, are dressed as pedestrians, and by the end - oddly - in shorts. The crossing routines enacted in pairs stand out. The voice over, which is a collection of anecdotes by the dancers, feels genuine. As the group forms a line and runs out of it, one thinks of graduation. The mixture of popular music fits, for this piece resonates like a good song on the radio.

In Hand Me Down sophomore Juliana May handles her ten dancers with an almost professional confidence and maturity. The dancers, dressed all in white, seem like doctors or mental patients, and ultimately they are just people, stilled down to something essential. They dance with a quirky insistence, moving rapidly from formation to formation. The stage is never cluttered or boring, but ever changing right up to the last moment.

In Hold My Space for Me, senior Ellie-Jo Leonhardt follows her inner impulses into movements, utilizing images of the sun. Senior Anna Whited plays a structured improvisation on her cello, while closely watching the dance. Whited acts to provide a personal supportive audience, relegating us to a secondary audience. Throughout the concert, the act of viewing is often an act of support.

Solidarity features senior Bill Stevens, who is blind, in a duet of contact improvisation with junior Andrew Richardson. In the striking opening, Richardson has his eyes closed and they reach their fingers slowly toward the other's fingers until they find each other and begin to dance, both in contact and out of it. What is most compelling is the trust both dancers have in their bodies. Stevens, with his outreaching fingers, is a captivating performer.

Junior Abby Rasmisky's solo Soon/After utilizes voice to embody an older man on his death bed as well as the person at his side, and the result is an interesting, at moments creepy, performance.

In Body of Music first-year Jim Williams explores mime. The piece has a humorous science fiction feel and features a green "box" which causes William's body to undulate Jell-O-like within his tight black get-up. Williams is best when he turns his face of exaggerated fear to the audience. As he runs off stage in slow motion the piece takes on the quality of a dream.

Senior Kerry Wee presents a tap solo entitled Carving Silence which builds to a quick pace. She is skilled and funky as ever though too much of her attitude gets projected downwards. Wee and Williams seem to ask only for audience enjoyment.

Spring Back runs through Saturday evening in Warner Main. Go see it and have a good discussion afterwards.

Tower of Power: Spring Back performers present student choreographed works this weekend. (photo by Areca Treon)