AUDIENCE REVIEW: Douglas Dunn + Dancers' "Antipodes" Proves to be Striking in More Ways than One
Company:
Douglas Dunn + Dancers
Performance Date:
February 2, 2017
Freeform Review:
Douglas Dunn hit the mark with his most recent evening length work premiering at Danspace Project on Thursday night. Antipodes, a very large artistic collaboration, awed on opening night with its vibrant costumes, lighting, set design and musical score.
This was not my first time at St. Mark’s Church but the vibrant colors of cutout, painted birds placed adeptly throughout the space made me see it in an entirely new light.
As the audience chatted and mingled, dancers, often unnoticed, made their way into the space and began to shift from one stationary movement to the next. Their costumes, a stark contrast to the rest of the set, were monotone and plain. These stationary movements continued for quite some time until the dancers began to peel layers of their monochromatic clothing off to reveal bright, tri-colored leotards, tights and arm warmers underneath.
The rest of the evening continued much like the disrobing of the dancers in the first ten minutes of the show. Layer by layer, Dunn introduced the audience to Antipodes, the direct opposite of something, the duality of the individual, the duality of one’s mind.
Throughout the evening, I found myself deep in reflection. I wanted to understand this duality of purpose, to comprehend why there were almost always two dancers performing the transverse of another couple, and to understand why Steven Taylor’s score so often shifted between older and newer styles. I realized I would have to completely grasp human nature, the juxtapositions of life, the metaphorical and physical gravitational push and pulls and that maybe, it was okay that I didn’t.
Danspace Project hosted an awe-inspiring night of stunning choreography, beautiful set design, thoughtful lighting, spectacular costumes, and unique music. Dunn, his collaborators and his dancers took me on a journey into the deepest recesses of my own thoughts and challenged me to find comfort in exploration, in opposites, in Antipodes.
Review Written by: Caitlin McCarty, caitlin.mccarty7@gmail.com, Linkedin
Douglas Dunn + Dancers, Antipodes, Danspace Project. Photo: Ian Douglas/courtesy Danspace Project
