AYA expands on Surge, the first collaboration between Elements Contemporary Ballet and Aerial Dance Chicago, which premiered to sold-out crowds at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in July 2014. Chicago Tribune dance critic Laura Molzahn called Surge “Magnificent…a jam-packed visual wonder [that is] seamlessly thrilling.”
6 comments:
I would love to see this show, I love watching aerialists and ballet. The grace that these dancers and acrobats have is something I have forever admired. I personally have as much grace as a drunk frat boy, which is why I love to watch this type of performance. The melding of these two art forms sounds like it would make for a beautiful show. Ballerinas often look like they are floating on water as the go across the stage, that having them float through the air seems like the next logical step. The strength and flexibility of ballerinas is similar to aerialists, both of which are very impressive, I envy how they are able to control the movements of their bodies. I have worked on arial shows and had so much fun working with those artists and watching them train and perform. I wish I could go to Chicago and see this show and how they have intertwined these two arts.
The juxtaposition between ballet - which is traditionally very rigid and regulated in structure - and aerial dance - which is typically a more loose form of movement - should prove very interesting. It sounds as though the combination of these two types of movement is very well suited to the relatively abstract story that is being told. Collaborations like these are always exciting, as the inherent challenge presented when transferring ballet into a different performance medium really forces companies and dancers to test the known boundaries of their dance form. Such an exploration truly complements the narrative actually being conveyed, as both the character and dancer explore new worlds.
The height aerial dance brings to this piece is very atypical for ballet performances. Seeing a dancer function and move autonomously (without a supporting partner) at such a distance off the stage truly opens up new doors for storytelling, and movement exploration as well.
This seems very interesting. Ballet is traditionally very practiced and rigid of a dance form, but the integration of aerial dance adds a looseness and organic aspect to it. But, at the same time, I'm imagining aerial dance takes extreme precision and strength to make sure the dancers don't fall! So really, the two forms fit together very well. I think the story of the show seems very interesting, and the concept of the dancers physically creating the tree and their own fates using the fabrics holding them up is very cool. I am always interested in dance pieces that tell a story, as in traditional theater we rely so much on dialogue to transmit plot, but in this form, the dancers physical motions become the dialogue.
Dance, in any form, is such a unique art because it expresses a whole story with movement. Traditional theatre uses a combination of vocals, dialogue, and movements to convey the story, which leads to a more precise, plot based performance usually. But the ways in which stories are expressed through dance lend a much more natural, almost nostalgic quality. I personally love watching dance, and since my sister has been a competitive dancer since I was 10 I’ve grown up in an environment surrounded by dance. I’ve seen so many performances, both traditional and contemporary, that connect with the audience in a way a lot of other performance mediums cannot achieve. There is a strong emotional connection the exists in dance, and I think this particular performance is using that in a very strong manner. The idea of a tree of life is not only a great way to tie in the silks required for aerial dance, it also solidifies the combination of rigid ballet and free-flying aerial dance. Sometimes life is strict and traditional, requiring perfect and graceful execution. And sometimes life is wild and unpredictable and free, but also dangerous. I hope the project is extremely successful, and I wish I had the chance to see it.
Despite the difference in the two dance styles-rigid and free-flowing- I'm not surprised to see ballet and aerial silks coming together since they both have to exhibit a great deal of grace. I wonder what rehearsals must have been like. I imagine what it must have been like to train a bunch of classically trained ballet dancers on aerial silks and then tell them to "loosen up a bit" in their classically rigid style of dance. In casting this show, would you want to find people who are aerial acrobats who could dance ballet, or ballerinas who could also be quick learners on aerial silks? As far as the story of the show goes, I really like the idea of using the silks to represent a tree of life and the representation of connectedness that the dancers activate through their movement. Looking at how the directors of both companies thought of the story of the Red String of Fate applied to the partnership of their companies on this project, it makes me wonder about how the initial conversations got started when they began to conceptualize the show.
Like Amanda says, the combination of two different disciplines in this way should be very interesting. The rigid discipline of ballet is juxtaposed by the more free-flowing movement of the silks. The choreographers must have worked very hard to create something cohesive out of the two different styles of movement. The themes that the creators discuss in the article, the tree and red string of fate, are certainly things that could tie the two styles together: they mention how the movement changes for the main character, from beginning in the sky, lifted, and then moving towards a more grounded and firm foundation, which the traditional methods of ballet dance can supply. Altogether it looks like a very interesting concept, and one that I hope they are able to communicate to the audience. Do they actually weave a giant tree? How else can these themes be communicated through the dance? Definitely something I would need to see in order to understand.
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