When I heard that Pacific Northwest Ballet principals Noelani Pantastico and James Yoichi Moore were starting their own off-season dance company, I knew it was going to be something special. Program One of the Seattle Dance Collective, performed at the Vashon Center for the Arts, was every bit as impressive as I expected. I ran out of space to talk about the specific dances in my initial post on the event and in my post on the first half. Here are my impressions of the pieces performed after the intermission: “Anamnesis,” “Frugivory,” and “Mopey.”
Anamnesis
Choreography: Bruno Roque
Music: Nils Frahm
Text: Noelani Pantastico
Lighting Design: Alex Harding and Bruno Roque
Cast I Saw: Noelani Pantastico
Probably the least balletic piece on the program, “Anamnesis” uses spoken word and recorded text as much as music. Pantastico rides a bike on stage, and even the actual dancing is often jagged and disjointed in a way that well illustrates the emotions described, but in no way resembles ballet. Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos of this unique performance.
The program and website don’t describe this as a world premiere, or really describe the origin of the piece at all. But the text (written by Pantastico) is an intensely personal revelation of aspects of her own childhood, and is tied so closely to the music that it must have been created as a vehicle for her.
What the program does say is that “Anamnesis” touches upon the concept of how defining moments in our formative years leave a permanently ephemeral imprint that echoes throughout one’s existence. The word “anamnesis” means the remembering of things from a supposed previous existence (often used with reference to Platonic philosophy) or a patient’s account of a medical history. (I had to look it up.) That is evident in the dance. The stories relate to pivotal moments in Pantastico’s childhood. They relate to times where she “leveled up;” the chaotic movements representing moments when she felt out of control give way to a more controlled, balletic style as she finds new coping mechanisms and sources of strength.
Intellectually, it’s a fascinating piece that I could go on and on about. But with so much going on, it seemed like there was less room for actually dancing, which is ultimately what I most like to see.
Frugivory
Choreography: Bruno Roque
Music: Dead Combo
Costume Design: Noelani Pantastico
Lighting Design: Reed Nakayama
Cast I Saw: Liane Aung, Angelica Generosa, Jim Kent, Elizabeth Murphy, Miles Pertl, Dylan Wald
Like a good rug, “Frugivory” really ties the program together. It’s by the same choreographer as “Anamnesis” and uses some of the same tropes – unusual props, doing things on stage besides dancing. In common with “Mopey” it is set to popular music; like “Shogun” the music is Portuguese.
But the dance stands on its own, particularly for its wry humor. “Frugivory” is described as
a light, unphilosophical take on the idea that the object of our desire can drive us, or blind us; that we are often “prisoners” of our needs and longings
SDC Website
and for once I think the artists’ description is apt. The metaphor is clear when three women offer three men apples; the joke comes when one of the men insists on eating the whole apple before joining the woman in a dance. She even comments on it. In fact, they talk throughout the entire piece, as if eating apples and performing ballet were both common first-date activities. The whole thing is delightfully weird and actually funny.
Mopey
Choreography: Marco Goecke
Music: CPE Bach, The Cramps
Staging: James Moore
Lighting Design: David Moodey
Cast I Saw: James Moore
We all know that “Mopey” is the real reason I made the trek to Vashon Island to check out a new dance company. James Moore is well-known for this solo at PNB, but he alternated with Ezra Thomson for SDC’s inaugural performances. I think that this was the first ballet I ever saw James Moore in, and I’ve been a Moore fan-girl ever since. So I was happy to see him reprise his signature role when I attended on Sunday. But I have to admit, I’ve seen some Instagram videos that make me really curious to see Ezra Thomson’s take on the piece.
I saw “Mopey” before I started blogging, so there is no record of my impressions, and memory is an unreliable thing. But I know that “Mopey” blew my mind. It literally changed my understanding of what dance could be, because I had never seen anything like it on stage before.
In the years since, I have seen things like it. Ballet that celebrates male dancers is a lot more common than ten years ago. I’ve seen ballet performed in contemporary street clothes in numerous ballets since James Moore bounded on stage in a black hoodie; body slaps have gone from shocking to Contemporary Eric cliché; I’ve still never seen another ballet use music by The Cramps, but I’ve heard plenty of other popular recordings used. Just like the second time that I saw the band Momentum, I was reminded that the same art can’t blow your mind twice.
But I will never get tired of watching the muscles in a dancer’s back drag limbs into contortions most people can never achieve. I will never get tired of the shift between CPE Bach’s sweet violins and the ugly awkwardness of “Surfin’ Bird” and its more fitting affinity to the violent motions of the dance. I will never get tired of the adolescent chaos, confusion and emotional crisis of “Mopey’s” alternating cockiness and self-loathing. A thirty-minute Solstafir set once justified a trip to Iceland. “Mopey” more than justifies a ferry-ride to Vashon.
{I attended Program 1 courtesy of SDC and Vashon Center for the Arts. The tickets were theirs; the opinions are mine.}
