Skiagraph, December 10, 2005, Barnevelder Movement/Arts Complex

This new production by Suchu was like one long dream - a pleasant dream, but a long one. Choreographed by Jennifer Wood, it was somewhat arbitrarily split into two halves to allow for an intermission. Eight hardworking dancers were onstage for almost the entire show. There were brief sections when fewer dancers were onstage, but no one dancer was dominant. Like a Dali painting, surrealism pervaded this work; it was not meant to be understood per se, merely experienced. Ms. Wood made great use of a sturdy farmhouse kitchen table and eight chairs which featured prominently in a great deal of the dancing, including the most surreal section at the beginning of the second half. This scene consisted of several tableaux across the stage, including an art lecturer and three observers, a man at a restaurant that served bowls of dry cereal, and a dancer riding a bicycle through it all. The man at the restaurant went through several cycles of eating the cereal (Fruit Loops I think), getting the check, and paying the bill. Each time he would use a large spoon to toss the cereal out of an oversized bowl towards his mouth, with most of the cereal ending up on the floor. As a dancer, my first thought was, "How are they going to dance on that for the rest of the show?" (They didn't - it got swept up by other dancers.)

In addition to the surreal was the whimsical. In the first half, the dancers came out two at a time and danced with a chair (one each) as if it were a person. Sometimes they rocked the chair like a baby, sometimes like a lover. I never knew one could have such an intimate relationship with furniture, although the relationship between my dog and my couch comes close. The second half contained a skit in which the dancers started by huddling around a suitcase, acting as though they were taking something out. Given the show to this point, I expected them to turn around with nothing in their hands. I was therefore surprised when they popped up with hand puppets! Three of the dancers sat at the table with one rooster puppet each, the "lead singers" of an instrumental pop song that somehow sounded Asian. The other five dancers were the backup with two puppets apiece of various animals. It was equally amusing to watch the dancers' faces and their puppets as they "sang" along with serious but lighthearted intensity.

The music for the show, about which I can't give details because I no longer have the program, was a collection of electronic instrumentals. Some of the songs consisted of not much more than various eletronic pops and hisses. Normally I wouldn't listen to music like that for any length of time, so I was impressed to find that Ms. Wood made the movement compelling enough to keep my interest, but it also contributed to my sense that some sections were too long. The lighting design was excellent, creating a mood without being intrusive. The costumes were simple pants and layered short-sleeved shirts. The eight dancers were Daniel Adame, Chad Chasteen, Dana Wessale Crawford, Jenny de Vega Haines, Jessi Harper, Aileen Mapes, Tina Shariffskul, and Lindsey Thompson.

"Skiagraph" is defined as "see radiograph." A radiograph is what your radiologist reads: x-rays, CT scans, and the like. "Skia" is Greek for shadow.