Dancers give a painted performance in “The New You” by Shen Wei. (Spencer J Eggers/The Daily Campus)
Spring is in the air and excitement is abuzz on SMU’s campus for the much anticipated Spring Dance Concert.
The Meadows Dance Ensemble showcases an alluring array of talents in a production, which features works by three award-winning choreographers.
The first of the three pieces in the spring performance entitled “Five Preludes” is a ballet by the visiting artist-in-residence Adam Hougland.
The neo-classical ballet performance features dancers on pointe breathtakingly taking the stage to the music of five
Rachmaninoff preludes. The music of the Russian pianist, composer and conductor anchors the simplistic and elegant piece in an air of drama.
The stunning choreography is executed with precision and grace by the Meadows dancers, especially the leads, Aubrey Neal, Ellie Blanchet, Kailey Androit, Bo Presley, Harry Ferril and John Mingle.
The production then transitions into the graceful, detailed and rich work “Song Awakened” by SMU faculty member and well-known jazz dance artist Danny Buraczeski.
The piece is set to the songs of Cesária Ãvora. Ãvora’s Creole-Portuguese soul music.
The dancers use their bodies to communicate rhythm and tone to produce a work that transcends auditory and visual senses and becomes experiential for the audience.
Dancing in the lead roles are Katrina Kutsch and Albert Drake.
Abby Marchesseault, a member of Danny Buraczeski’s cast on Friday and Sunday, said, “The music and movement of each section reflect a certain aspect of that journey, from the swaying and rocking that depicts the trip across the sea to the energized, complex celebratory dance in the final section.”
Following the second piece, the show takes a slightly exaggerated pause to prepare for the final stunning performance of the concert: the world premiere of “The New You” by Meadows Prize winner and internationally recognized choreographer, director and dancer Shen Wei.
Wei is the artistic director of New York-based Shen Wei Dance Arts.
After winning the Meadows Prize in 2010, Wei created the interdisciplinary piece from scratch during his Meadows Prize residency of three weeks in January and February 2012.
The inter disciplinary act includes nine dancers, two musicians, two actors, two art students and a computing-projection student.
The performance is based on a concept that might seem far too technical for a dance: code. A number code of 0-30, in which each number correlates to a location in space and letter, makes the foundation of the piece.
Each dancer creates her own vocabulary of movements for each number.
With each number correlating to letters as well, dancers spell out their names with movements, even including a cursive signature in space, following the creative direction of Wei.
The complex piece is not lacking in number of dimensions. The numbers also correspond to musical notes played by a pianist and a cellist.
And artists fling, smear and slap paint on a numbered Plexiglas sheet and wear cameras, projecting images of those around them.
And as if that were not difficult and complex enough, each dancer dips themselves in paint and rolls down a ramp reminiscent of a whimsical game of chutes and ladders.
“This work is about audiences experiencing new possibilities by building and revising systems that are sensed, but not necessarily known,” Wei said.
Marchesseault says that Shen Wei’s piece is about the unity that comes from experiencing art.
“I think the combination of music, technology, dance, acting and visual art all using their respective mediums to follow the same directions makes a multi-sensory experience that is unique and universal at the same time,” Marchesseault said.
The concert pieces have come together quite well, converging different ideas and techniques.
“Adam Hougland’s piece has some breathtakingly exquisite moments, Danny Buraczeski’s is sultry and fun, and Shen Wei’s is stimulating and curious,” Marchesseault said.
The performance runs March 28 through April 1.
