The Muhlenberg Weekly

Issue date: 2/22/07 Section: Life!

Last Friday, members of the College had the pleasure of attending the 2007 Baker Artists-in-Residence dance concert. The performance was held by the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, which is celebrating its forty third season. The internationally renowned modern company is located in downtown Salt Lake City and is composed of six dancers.

The opening piece of the show, "Degrees of Separation" (2005) was choreographed by Charlotte Boye-Christensen, this year's Baker Artist-in-Resident. According to Boye-Christensen, the work in this piece "was inspired by intimacy and the loss of intimacy, stillness in small spaces, to act and react, to connect and disconnect." The music for this piece, with train sounds persistent throughout to work as a metaphor, could easily be related to many of the signature gestures of the piece.

"Metal Garden" (2000), choreographed by Seán Curran in collaboration with the Company dancers, had a very different feel to it from the previous piece. The music was more upbeat, the dancers had cheerful expressions on their faces and the style of choreography was very different. There was a distinct style used in the movement and positioning of the arms, hands and head placed throughout the piece. The dancers seemed to be having a lot of fun.

"Loose Change" (2005), choreographed by Joan Woodbury with movement vocabulary selected from the dancers' improvisation, was something I was surprised to see in a concert of modern dance. The cowboy hats and blues music were enough to catch anyone's attention. The dancers creatively used props such as metal cans and benches alongside the choreography of the piece, enhancing the theme being used. This was a great way to go into the intermission leaving the audience excited and wanting more.

The second half of the show opened with "Series 1" (2004), choreographed by Wayne McGregor. Only five of the six dancers performed in this piece, which was "composed of excerpts from several dances." The simple costumes worn in this piece allowed the audience to see the dancers' bodies working to execute the difficult movements that went along with the intricate music.

"Siesta" (1995), choreographed once again by Boye-Christensen, was a piece in which the audience had the opportunity to see only the three women of the company dance. Performed to music from Bizet's "Carmen", the women wore long dresses to assist in portraying the piece as operatic. The piece was both humorous and entertaining to watch with its unique inspiration of three nuns on a journey.

Continued...

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