If light is a puddle that can be scooped up off the floor and allowed to crawl in finger-like forward motions all over a dancer’s body, that dancer (Ying Zhou) is working with video artist Susie J. Lee.
Lee’s contributions to For these Unclosings at Seattle’s Theatre Off Jackson last night (the last night) were riveting, but then there was everything else. Lee worked with a classy ensemble; nobody stank up the place. The problem arose in what they chose to do with their abilities.
Emily Greenleaf accompanied herself on accordion with Meredith Monk-style vocalizations. Greenleaf is great, and I was grateful that I wouldn’t have to hear her be great for more than the 45-minute duration. This is music for teenage intellectuals who think that pleasure is suspect and shallow. Somebody has to perform it for that audience; others need to be warned at the door.
Although Ying Zhou is a lovely dancer, she served as choreographer for a piece that is indistinguishable from Martha Graham-influenced mime. (Emote! Emote!)
Success was all about the light. It burned and fondled, quite beyond its station, in a real-time interaction with the dancer.
Below, Ying Zhou erases it with her toe.
Photos, Cliff DesPeaux. Costume, Catherine Cabeen. Wizard-level video assistance, Andy Wilson, Emily Greenleaf, Keeara Rhoades and Reina Solunaya. Technical director, Okazawa M.
For a contrary view (including an elaboration on process), see Jen Graves.
I loved every moment. What do art critics know? Esp this one. Sour, bitter and victim of a short attention span.
Ouch. But, you know, like a good ouch. Your review, while gently and painlessly brief, spoke volumes. I was there. In fact, I could have been sitting right behind you. Not on purpose. It just so happened you came in and sat where you sat. So, we inevitably and doubtlessly saw the identical performance given of our shared proximity to the stage. I had dinner with a good friend afterward. He and I agreed… there was, almost literally, nothing redeemable about this performance. In fact, if I was to think back to most of the moments I was conscious, I would have to say that at times I was bordering on annoyed. Annoyed I had paid $15, annoyed by the music, annoyed by the dancing and “choreography”, annoyed by the lack of content, annoyed by the pace, annoyed by the lighting, annoyed that there was supposedly a narrative buried somewhere, annoyed at the abysmal lack of any variety of artistic exploration, annoyed that the technology was employed for such pedestrian ends… I could EASILY go on. Mostly, I hate seeing well-meaning individuals with money (WIMs) be utterly duped into believing they’re experiencing “art” when they most certainly are not. I’m a little bit done with folks who lean on their medium(s) as if their predetermined creative itinerary and its list of toys, pretentiously heady yet vapid themes and what-would-be-cools justifies the legitimacy of their work.