Commonwealth Times

Media Credit: Jenee' Jones (In) between there and then, lies here [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Jenee' Jones A Poised and Delicate Balance [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Jenee' Jones For What Was [Click to enlarge]

The sixth annual VCU Dance NOW saw a successful run this weekend at the Grace Street Theater.

The dancers featured were mostly students and a few alumni, while the choreography set upon them was that of this season's guest artists as well as of dance faculty.

The nationally and internationally renowned guest artists involved were: Berlin-native Heidi Weiss, Philadelphia's Tania Isaac, Daniel Gwirtzman from New York, and Meisha Bosma from D.C. Filling out the rest of the concert were the likes of associate professors Judith Steel and Scott Putman, professor and former dance chair Martha Curtis and current dance chair James Frazier.

With so many different methods and styles being taught by the visiting artists and members of the faculty, the event promised to be a myriad of movement.

Through classes, rehearsals and introspective research, the dancers spent the better part of seven months learning to convey the thoughts and ideas of their choreographers.

The intensely lighthearted Martha Curtis opened the show with a multimedia piece titled "Muxing Hank" that included two projection screens, a video camera and a hand-held, trigger-operated wooden face named "Hank." As Curtis manipulated "Hank" both on and off camera, the audience and the sculpture seemed to become aware of the time lapse between the two screens. Curtis seemed to be merely a vessel for the confused sculpture that eventually became startled at its own past appearance. Curtis succeeded in getting a rise out of the crowd several times.

Formerly a member of Urban Bush Women, Tania Isaac's "In Search Of" was a deep and compelling investigation that brought the best out her seven dancers. The Afrocentric nature of the work resulted in a movement style that was a journey in effortless fluidity as well as intensity.

"A Poised and Delicate Balance" was Judith Steel's meticulous contribution to the evening. Steel explained chaos better than anyone could through her nine dancers. Wielding glossy beams of wood, the dancers tried fruitlessly to converge and build a single structure. What resulted was a frantic whirlwind unable to establish order. The piece was most fascinating but unnerving to watch because of the fact that props were flying everywhere while dancers ran about aimlessly. Finally the chaos subsided and the dancers' sublimely simple structure was left in the spotlight for the audience to admire.

Daniel Gwirtzman's "Compass" featured colorful, futuristic costumes with complementing music. His quintet of dancers must have been incredibly fatigued by the end of the 15-minute-long spectacle, which included almost nothing but running for the first portion. No sooner would a dancer disappear from stage left than they would emerge from stage right. Their sweat-drenched faces were quite visible at the end of the work.

After the intermission, Scott Putman's "On The Shelf Of Memory In Temple Of A Compressing Heart" featured alumnae Damion Bond, Paige Horton and Lauren Morris and current student Erin Dalton in a dark, depressing piece that embodied a broken heart leading to insanity. Bond's costumes looked like they were stolen from an underground sewer society and went perfectly with the mood of the piece.

James Frazier's "The Seeds of Something More" is a constantly evolving piece that featured nine very different dancers. While the first musical transition was a little awkward, the electronic music added to the fervor of the piece and the similar-yet-contrasting costumes effectively set off the contrasting pairings of dancers. Not to detract from the choreographer's abilities, the pieces up to this point had been so long and involved that very little from Frazier's piece stood out as unique. This also could have been a result of seeing the piece before.

Meisha Bosma's "For What Was" was one of the most beautiful pieces of the evening because of its rudimentary choreography. The piece was laden with ballet-inspired movement and was very soothing to watch when compared to the more hard-edged works of the evening. Set to one of Heitor Villa-Lobos' "Bachianas Brasileiras," the duo of Samantha Crawford and Jessica Wright was radiant with poise and grace.

"(In) between there and then, lies here" was Heidi Weiss' piece and the closer for the evening. Calling on 10 dancers, Weiss' troupe, which included dancers from a vast age-range, demonstrated superb cohesion in its core work and in its smaller pairings. The piece was accomplished solidly and was applauded well.

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Media Credit: Jenee' Jones (In) between there and then, lies here [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Jenee' Jones A Poised and Delicate Balance [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Jenee' Jones For What Was [Click to enlarge]

The sixth annual VCU Dance NOW saw a successful run this weekend at the Grace Street Theater.

The dancers featured were mostly students and a few alumni, while the choreography set upon them was that of this season's guest artists as well as of dance faculty.

The nationally and internationally renowned guest artists involved were: Berlin-native Heidi Weiss, Philadelphia's Tania Isaac, Daniel Gwirtzman from New York, and Meisha Bosma from D.C. Filling out the rest of the concert were the likes of associate professors Judith Steel and Scott Putman, professor and former dance chair Martha Curtis and current dance chair James Frazier.

With so many different methods and styles being taught by the visiting artists and members of the faculty, the event promised to be a myriad of movement.

Through classes, rehearsals and introspective research, the dancers spent the better part of seven months learning to convey the thoughts and ideas of their choreographers.

The intensely lighthearted Martha Curtis opened the show with a multimedia piece titled "Muxing Hank" that included two projection screens, a video camera and a hand-held, trigger-operated wooden face named "Hank." As Curtis manipulated "Hank" both on and off camera, the audience and the sculpture seemed to become aware of the time lapse between the two screens. Curtis seemed to be merely a vessel for the confused sculpture that eventually became startled at its own past appearance. Curtis succeeded in getting a rise out of the crowd several times.

Formerly a member of Urban Bush Women, Tania Isaac's "In Search Of" was a deep and compelling investigation that brought the best out her seven dancers. The Afrocentric nature of the work resulted in a movement style that was a journey in effortless fluidity as well as intensity.

"A Poised and Delicate Balance" was Judith Steel's meticulous contribution to the evening. Steel explained chaos better than anyone could through her nine dancers. Wielding glossy beams of wood, the dancers tried fruitlessly to converge and build a single structure. What resulted was a frantic whirlwind unable to establish order. The piece was most fascinating but unnerving to watch because of the fact that props were flying everywhere while dancers ran about aimlessly. Finally the chaos subsided and the dancers' sublimely simple structure was left in the spotlight for the audience to admire.

Daniel Gwirtzman's "Compass" featured colorful, futuristic costumes with complementing music. His quintet of dancers must have been incredibly fatigued by the end of the 15-minute-long spectacle, which included almost nothing but running for the first portion. No sooner would a dancer disappear from stage left than they would emerge from stage right. Their sweat-drenched faces were quite visible at the end of the work.

After the intermission, Scott Putman's "On The Shelf Of Memory In Temple Of A Compressing Heart" featured alumnae Damion Bond, Paige Horton and Lauren Morris and current student Erin Dalton in a dark, depressing piece that embodied a broken heart leading to insanity. Bond's costumes looked like they were stolen from an underground sewer society and went perfectly with the mood of the piece.

James Frazier's "The Seeds of Something More" is a constantly evolving piece that featured nine very different dancers. While the first musical transition was a little awkward, the electronic music added to the fervor of the piece and the similar-yet-contrasting costumes effectively set off the contrasting pairings of dancers. Not to detract from the choreographer's abilities, the pieces up to this point had been so long and involved that very little from Frazier's piece stood out as unique. This also could have been a result of seeing the piece before.

Meisha Bosma's "For What Was" was one of the most beautiful pieces of the evening because of its rudimentary choreography. The piece was laden with ballet-inspired movement and was very soothing to watch when compared to the more hard-edged works of the evening. Set to one of Heitor Villa-Lobos' "Bachianas Brasileiras," the duo of Samantha Crawford and Jessica Wright was radiant with poise and grace.

"(In) between there and then, lies here" was Heidi Weiss' piece and the closer for the evening. Calling on 10 dancers, Weiss' troupe, which included dancers from a vast age-range, demonstrated superb cohesion in its core work and in its smaller pairings. The piece was accomplished solidly and was applauded well.

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