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AUDIENCE REVIEW: More Fish Dance Company: A Day at the Lake

Company:
More Fish Dance Company

Performance Date:
December 15, 2024

Freeform Review:

More Fish Dance Company, directed by Doron Perk, presented A Day at the Lake on December 15, 2024, at Dixon Place. This evening-length work, featuring dancers Joan Dwiartanto, Nicole Leung, Tori Mazzacone, and Nikki Theroux, transformed the dark black box theater into a bright day, offering glimpses into the sunny daydreams of individuals and the collective ensemble.

"One day... I'll jump so high... into the sky... and become a sunbeam," announced Nicole Leung in the piece’s opening moments. Standing center stage, she shifted between meditative poses as the other performers entered the space. Dressed in vibrant tank tops, loud patterns, and shorts, the dancers’ connections grew until their movements were almost unison, but not quite, to evoke the gentle water ripples. This moment captivated me as the phrase work flowed through patterns of softness, tension, build, and break. The dancers maintained a beautiful floating quality within moments of dynamic intensity. Recorded vocalizations by Ahava Katzin seemed to initiate their movements, with each "ah" sparking a new gesture for the group. 

A couple of sections later, Nicole Leung began to jam out to the recorded music. As she grooves, she breaks the fourth wall, connecting with pianist Papuna Sharikadze, who emerges from the audience and joins in the dance, before making his way to the piano in the corner. At first, he played dissonant tones, which gradually evolved into many different genres—from jazzy harmonies to 17th-century-inspired motifs to a waltz. As the music transformed, so did the dance, presenting a series of solos that showcased the dancers' inner dialogue of movement exploration. 

Nikki Theroux, her eyes closed, cut through the space with her limbs. With circular tracings and moments of pause, she twisted her body, as if she was wringing herself out like a towel. Joan Dwiartanto danced staccato with her small and delicate movements that were detailed and memorable.

Leung appears on stage, familiar to us as our narrator. She presents what she called, “another day,” as a vocal track similar to what we heard earlier plays. Familiar ideas returned, with the dancers finding their wave ripples again before seamlessly transitioning into a sequence of support— catching, falling, and lifting one another. In this section, the dancers moved as a strong unit, highlighting their abilities to listen to each other, evoking comfort and safety. This made the work feel communal and tangible, and it made it feel at ease. 

My favorite section came shortly after when the dancers broke into pairs, one manipulating the limbs of the other to initiate a shape or movement. This continued as the duets fell and floated until the pairs merged. Once they became a group, they held one dancer at a time and kept them off the floor as much as possible until they switched which dancer was in the air. Throughout this section, the dancers exchanged smiles as they danced with full trust, moving with an organic quality. The abandon in their bodies made me think that the dancers were improvising. Yet, as the pairs repeated the phrase—growing faster and faster in sync with Sharikadze’s escalating piano, that now sounded like a cousin to “Flight of the Bumblebee” —it became clear the choreography was meticulously crafted. Before an instant blackout, this portion cumulated into a lift, ending this specific dream sequence. 

Lights came up to reveal the dancers spinning freely, rotating to different stations before coming into a circle. They explored arm movements and rotation of their limbs, before transitioning into “exit solos.” Each dancer executed impressive tricks, drawing laughter and smiles from the audience before they left the stage. 

The stage then transformed into a jazz club as Tori Mazzacone appeared in a sparkly dress, her hair flowing freely. At the piano, Sharikadze started playing and singing “I’m Through with Love.” Unexpectedly, Mazzacone began to lip-sync, embodying Sharikadze’s voice. As she continues, she becomes more animated, showcasing humor and pizazz. As her song came to a close, I was left already missing the world More Fish created, a pause from my reality.

Author:
Rachel Ha-Eun Lee

Photo Credit:
Alexander Sargent