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AUDIENCE REVIEW: "Barry: Mamaloshen" at Kennedy Center

Company:
Asya Zlatina and Dancers

Performance Date:
April 5th, 2018

Haiku Review:
Asya Zlatina and Dancers is a constant reminder for myself that Philadelphia dancers are connected and collaborating with each other. Drawing from contemporary dance, like at rehearsal with choreographer, Asya Zlatina, it is interesting to see each of the dancers' personalities come out in different sections. They are preparing for a performance of Barry: Mamaloshen at Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage on April 5th.

The rehearsal was without mirrors, but Noah Dickinson a videographer, and myself watched on to try to catch some of the minute details in the choreography. When the dancers are in sync the movement of one body to the next with similar forms and changing shapes is noticeable, but at the same time there is a sense of losing one's self in the motion.

Holding onto the ideas that come with the dance, BARRY: Mamaloshen from 2016 Fringe there seems to be this turning of age, language, and crowding in of modern views of an ancient world. From sitting in on two of Zlatina's rehearsals there is a play at work in the count. They were pulling natural forms out of the count and that brought it alive, and gave the steps truth and left impressions of this melodic Yiddish music that you start to hum to on your own. The transition from pure movement that flowed to a distinct pause showed a calculated attitude conveyed as the group slowly started to detach from one another and form partners. Was the group movement that lead up to these dramatic stoppages needed to create this final character under the music of the Barry sisters? Yes, there is this play on childhood memories and human nature taking over.

Author:
chuck schultz