Indie Dance Livens

It is hard to say good things about the Theater and Dance Department these days. In light of the current controversies facing the department's annual Spring Back, a program of independently choreographed student working under their own direction seems like the perfect solution to a difficult set of problems. Titled Indie Stud, the concert of works that comes to the Little Theater this weekend is anything but problematic.

"The concert has always been a forum for students who are not accepted by the [Theater and Dance] Department, who present work that is too controversial or too experimental," said senior Polly Seashore, stage manager and co-chair of the Oberlin Dance Umbrella, a new student-run organization devoted to student-produced works.

The group hopes to step in where the Theater and Dance Department falls short. Yet uncharted by the ever controversial student senate, The Umbrella strives toward "unifying...all types of dance at Oberlin," as outlined within the heart of its charter.

Operating outside of the Theater and Dance Department, Indie Stud's solutions are simple. As a program of work under the complete creative control of student dancers, Indie Stud employs smart and simple lighting and set design to focus on the work of the performers. More than anything else, the production is able to free the audience from the politics that so often plague supposed student concerts more directly under the auspices of the Theater and Dance Department.

However, it would be wrong to say to Indie Stud is not political. Perhaps the most political piece comes in the second half of the program, with senior Anne Austen Gadwa's "Anne thinks she can't draw," and senior Cory Dargel and double-degree junior Yvan Greenberg's collaborative performance "Dia / Tribe: Matthew fucks Tony."

Gadwa's "Anne thinks she can't draw," as well as being one of the more political pieces, was also among the most visually stimulating, using video projections of converted super eight film of women in her family. "The work with the film came about when I discovered the super eight film of my grandmothers," Gadwa said. "Through a film class here I have worked with it a lot and it has really shaped many of the feminist ideas in the piece that were not originally there."

The messages of feminism come through clearly in all elements of the piece. The movements are set to a series of interviews with different women in Gadwa's family, and their interaction the movements themselves and the video images is evocative and meaningful. Through the use of short repetitions, Gadwa is able to convey messages of her family history with hypnotic and lyrical clarity.

"Dia / Tribe: Matthew fucks Tony" strove for clarity using radically different messages. Immediately challenging the audience by turning on all the house and stage lights, "Dia / Tribe: Matthew fucks Tony" keeps challenging throughout, depending on Dargel's voice for the only sound, and very minimal props to carry its huge messages. Dargel and Greenberg have captivating presence of well-seasoned performers.

Starting with the text "Between 80 and 90 years ago. Hello. Hello. Hey there," the piece uses the text to open a kind of story. But based on the performance of the speech and the movement, this story proves to be a difficult one to tell, and the interaction of the performers with each other and with the audience creates a kind of unreal performance world.

This world of self-conscious and self-referencing is emphasized again by text: "I've seen only a limited number of performances in my life, nine or 10. I've seen ten performances in my life and I know what I like about these performances, and I don't think I'll find these in any other performances."

Though not always easy for the audience, in the end "Dia / Tribe: Matthew fucks Tony" is a performance that seems to know exactly what its agenda is, and Greenberg and Dargel know exactly how to perform it. But there were many self-confident performers of the evening. In "Breath," sophomore Irene Akio opens the concert with a solo work that is rapid and technical.

"Many ideas for the piece came from Antonia Alvarez, who was working on the voice project last year incorporating breath. Many of the movements came from working with her and using the ideas of breath and movement." Akio performs her work with no props and the simplicity of the staging and lighting, coupled with the somewhat quiet recorded score, draws the audience's complete attention, and she somehow manages to make every breath of the work seem meaningful.

The "Study in Rumpus," featuring juniors Galen Treuer, Robin Detterman, Dan Flynn, and sophomores Jacob Teter and Ady Styer, is the raucous telling of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are through movement. With the live musical accompaniment by the musicianship of junior Daniel Gale, "Study in Rumpus" is exactly what one might expect from a piece of that name. The only people in the theater who have more fun with the piece than the audience are the performers.

Double-degree junior Holly Matyas' solo performance of "Act I Varation from Giselle" was equally light-hearted but far different in technical demand. Matyas performance was a radical shift in direction from most independent student dance in that it was ballet. Completely unexpected and refreshing, Matyas was technically astounding and the work was simply a joy to watch.

The largest group of the evening was the quartet of "Porcelain with Scars." Choreographed by first-year Elinor Anderson-Genné, "Porcelain with Scars" employed a deeply moving soundtrack for the movements, and the interaction between the dancers was well rehearsed and fluid. First-years Laurie Pickard, Corena Gamble, and Sharon Poku filled out the quartet, and along with Anderson-Geené, performed the work with deep conviction. The combination of unison dancing with small solo interjections was well timed and in beautiful taste with respect to the music.

Where many programs fail in length, Indie Stud's hour-and-a-half length is as tasteful as the works themselves. And considering the recent traumas in Theater and Dance, the students of Indie Stud proves that student theater is alive and well in Oberlin.

Indie Stud will be performed March 3 and 4 in the Little Theater and starts at 8 p.m. Admission is free and the event is open to the public.