NW New Works Fest, Week 1: The Mainstage
SANDSTROMMOVEMENT's "the arrival/RISE" at On the Boards last weekend. Photo by Tim Summers.
On Monday, we reviewed last weekend's Studio Showcase; here's a glimpse of last weekend's Mainstage Showcase. The Northwest New Works Festival closes this weekend at On the Boards with another round of entirely new works. Tickets $14 and more info here.
Hot Little Hands, Always Merry and Bright. Whimsical costumes on pretty girls, juxtaposed
with their evil facial expressions. It was part horror movie, part fairy tale. It evoked Mean Girls as they continually pushed and danced each other to the floor.
Headwaters Dance Company, Montana Suite Part IV: 100 Miles from Forsyth. The final section in the four-part Montana Suite, "a multi-year project to commission dances inspired by the rich landscapes and diverse cultures of Montana." After reading about the topography and scarce resources of "Crow Country," the inspiration for 100 Miles for Forsyth, it made perfect sense. Bowls of water and empty water glasses sit on the stage floor. Two dancers painstakingly wring out wet, button-down shirts into glasses. The colors are barren. Carefully weaving in and out of the boundaries the glassware imposes, not a drop of water is wasted, until the end.
Salt Horse, Man on the Beach. Ordinary, plainclothes dancers performing out-of-the-ordinary dances. Jarring and downright creepy music introduces us to a man who sits down on a driftwood bench. From there we suffered feelings of anxiety, depression, aggravation and fear. It was as though we witnessed a man suffering from schizophrenia or some other mental illness that would make someone behave a little cuckoo. Complicated and odd relationships, a pile of chairs dancing on a head.
SANDSTROMMOVEMENT, the arrival/RISE. An overhead light powerfully attracts this group of dancers towards it, then violently casts them away. Chad Belier, a local multi-instrumentalist, composed the music for the piece by manipulating familiar sounds.
