|
DANCE REVIEW
WHO: Dance Brigade, Keith
Hennessy/Circo Zero, Copper Wimmin, Holly Near
WHAT: “Spell—13 Invocations for World Peace”
WHERE: SomArts, 934 Brannan @Ninth
WHEN: Through November 2
HOW MUCH: $13-$20
MORE INFO: 415-273-4633, www.dancemission.com
Possibly
the most satisfying moment of Krissy Keefer’s “Spell – 13
Invocations for World Peace,” which weaves on through November
2 at SomArts on Brannan Street, is when Keefer casts her final
spell against those politicians and organizations she wants to
see dispossessed. I think I can safely say that more than one
person in the audience savored the idea of the World Trade
Organization skewered on a nine inch nail and burnt to a
blackened crisp.
Keefer’s
Dance Brigade, Keith Hennessy’s Circo Zero, the a cappella
group Copper Wimmin, activist folk singer Holly Near and
dozens of local visual artists come together in this
multimedia extravaganza -- part performance art, part art
installation – which is intended to invoke neo-pagan rituals,
spells and hexes if you will, in the service of social
change. This year, the presidential elections fall on the
second day of both the Celtic holiday Samhain and the Mexican
holiday Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.
Are we to
believe that all this mumbo-jumbo is supposed to actually
affect November’s election? With all that’s going on in the
world these days, well, gosh, anything seems worth a try. In
a time when we can wave our hands in the direction of a faucet
and water appears, when your car tells you when to “turn
right,” when your precious vote can be cast with a couple of
taps on a screen into the electronic ether leaving nary a
physical trace behind, perhaps the idea of casting magical
spells won’t seem exactly medieval to many people. Not to
say, though, that all this earnest spell-casting won’t tickle
a sigh of frustration from we literalists.
On a
well-attended opening weekend evening, a light, misty rain
didn’t dampen any spirits as the audience streamed outside for
Circo Zero’s “The Elemental World,” a series of site-specific
cameos played out to the droning of the cars that whizzed
along the freeway above. On the way up the path to the back
garden, performers appear – one on the roof of the building,
another in a flame-lit vignette in a giant metal pipe. A
half-naked Seth Eisen slithers out from the bushes and burbles
some phrases at the people walking past Circo director
Hennessy, who periodically emerges steaming and wet from a
recycling bin.
Along the
way, audience members inspect an enchanting installation by
Kate Boyd, tall green stalks of luminous, jeweled ears of corn
towering over watermelons, which lie cracked open to reveal
tiny worlds within their shells. Beside them are pieces of
broken concrete and a man nearby asked, “Don’t you want to
know if that’s an exhibit or if it’s trash?”
In a back
corner of the yard, peeking from behind bamboos, Susan
Voyticky spins in the air, lazily morphing her positions as
she hangs from a large ring and suspended from a rope,
Hennessy, pulled some thirty feet in the air by audience
members, swings from a tree.
The din
from I-80 is a constant reminder of modern urban realities
though, drowning out the Vita Yee’s violin playing, and
keeping us firmly anchored in a harsh present. Thus, the
dominant feeling upon watching all these various operations
unfold is one of pragmatism, not fantasy. When Richelle
Donigan thrusts her thyrsus-like staff to the left and enjoins
us to face east, it seems like we’re preparing to ensorcell
the freeway. To the west, perhaps we’re hexing Nordstrom Rack,
while to the south, Dolby Labs.
The last
outdoor stop is to watch Keefer’s Dance Brigade
enthusiastically thundering away on taiko drums before
returning inside to skim through the Day of the Dead altars.
Curated by Rene Yáñez, it is an affecting collection of
remembrances of the dead, inspired sometimes by personal,
sometimes by political motivations and this part of the
exhibition alone deserves attention. A stunning PIECE created
by Kana Tanaka out of mirrors and glass reflects a portrait in
light onto the wall. Another, by George Aguilar, projects a
ghostly image of Our Lady of Guadalupe into a smoke-filled
space over a floor strewn with roses. The “Memorial Cathedral
for Iraq” displays 1176 individually cut out silhouettes
representing the many dead in Iraq.
Back in
SomArts’ rear performance space, much-beloved folk singer
Holly Near had the audience singing along to staples of her
repertoire like, “I Ain’t Afraid,” “Planet Called Home,” and
“1000 Grandmothers,” warming up the crowd for Dance Brigade’s
“Spell,” which closed out the evening’s program.
With Keefer
taking on the role of Hekate, Grecian goddess of the Moon (or
as the program notes, Queen of the Witches), the seven dancers
– including Donigan, Karen Eliot, Lena Gatchalian, Kimberly
Valmore, Tina Banchero and Sarah Bush --ritually loft dust and
leaves into the air. Against Lynda Rieman’s striking dusky
lighting and sets and Joe William’s organic video projections,
they “break it on down” like Wiccan Fly Girls wielding brooms
and swords, to the accompaniment of Copper Wimmin (Sophie
Mallie, Tenaya Wallach and Alyx Benham). Incidentally, if dust
allergies or fears of being impaled by a broom handle haunt
your dreams, the front row seats are not for you.
Pounding,
spinning, quivering, drumming, and a chatty, Leno-esque
monologue from Keefer on the bitter humor she sees in modern
politics -- in short, a vast deal of sound and fury makes up
the rest of the evening. Let’s hope it signifies something.
Come this November 2, we’re going to need all the help we can
get.
Mary
Ellen Hunt has written for the Contra Costa Times, Dance
Magazine, Diablo Magazine and CriticalDance.com. She can be
contacted at mehunt@criticaldance.com.
|
Outlets I've worked with:
|
