Entertainment :: Theatre
Kelley Donovan & Dancers by Sue Katz
EDGE ContributorMonday Apr 16, 2007 Local choreographer Kelley Donovan went to NYC for a year and, lucky woman, brought back nearly a dozen lovely young women dancers, most of them recent college graduates. Since September they have been collaborating on a performance piece that the NY Times praised for the "dynamic shifts that told its story." Titled It’s All Forgotten Now: exploring transformation, decay and memory, Donovan and the dancers had a three-day run (April 13-15) at the Dance Complex in Cambridge.
Using electronic music compiled from bits that sounded to my non-electronic ears like a compendium of static, tinkling, drips and, most strikingly, a sizzling buzz like those gadgets that catch and fry flies, Donovan first strung together the 45-minute modern dance choreography, and then built the music around it. "Our collaborative approach," Donovan told Edge, "is a departure from the hierarchical styles of conventional dance companies." She also pointed out that not only were the women partnering each other, they were also lifting each other. While this is scarcely revolutionary, having been visible in many dance companies since the 1970s, it was definitely a nice touch within a modern genre some consider old-fashioned.
At both the opening and mid-point, Kelley herself soloed with improvisations that used the very movements underlying the work of the others. Donovan’s opening was strong - and because of her age and shape promised more body diversity than the show delivered. With her remarkably expressive hands and arms, she held the stage and our attention powerfully. The set pieces of her dancers had been created through the catalyst of exercises Donovan assigned, such as "reach back behind the self and move side to side." Once a phrase was accepted as an element in the performance, Donovan created variations in motion - using the same movement for lifts, turns or on the floor.
The dancers, some of them performing in a group for the first time, are to be congratulated for their expressive energy - running across the stage until stopped by an unseen force field, bending backwards or spinning down to the floor. In a post-performance Q&A they told the audience that, now that Donovan is back in Boston, they are continuing to rehearse and create together in New York. As for Donovan, look for her own company or sign up to the invaluable listserv she created for the Boston Dance Action Network at dance-action-network-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
My only footnote is about the depressing state of crucial "off-Broadway" venues like the Dance Complex. The building seems to be in a state of disintegration and the springs in the strangely upholstered benches were a rather kinky rear reminder of the lack of funding for community arts.
Sue Katz has published journalism and been a public speaker on the three continents where she has lived. She used to be most proud of her martial arts career and her world travel, but now it’s all about her hot blog - Sue Katz: Consenting Adult at www.suekatz.typepad.com and her book Thanks But No Thanks: The Voter’s Guide to Sarah Palin.
Portrait Photographer: Kevin Cox
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