Uneven dance performance still allows talent to shine through

Although the past weekend’s production of the Barnard Dances program at Miller Theatre was largely amorphous and somewhat ungainly, the show also offered some dazzling moments of grace and compelling movement.

This event was the most recent incarnation in a long line of programs that allows Columbia and Barnard students to engage with the professional dance world. Also known as the Barnard Dance Project, this particular performance created the opportunity for students to work with well-established choreographers from New York City. Students and choreographers showcased a jarring smorgasbord of concepts and styles, complemented by a live musical performance and occasionally mesmerizing movement.

“Quarter Past Blue,” choreographed by Barnard dance department lecturer Jodi Melnick, lived up to its title as the dancers created a melancholic atmosphere with their emotionally drained expressions and minimalist gestures. Melnick seemed to explore issues of disconnect and miscommunication between individuals, facilitated by understated, sequential, and often stilted choreography.

The piece juxtaposed extended periods of silence with bursts of music clips, including two different renditions of “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want,” originally by the Smiths. Occasionally, the dancers employed complex initiation sequences and angular, choppy motions as if to cry out for acknowledgment from their fellow dancers as well as from the stage itself. However, the overall lack of connection and emotion in the piece, coupled with an overwhelming sense that the movement was not being fully realized, yielded only three or four truly poignant moments throughout the 30-minute piece.

The second piece, “Strung,” was without question the most compelling and most professional work of the program. As such, it was glaringly different from anything else presented that evening. The choreography pulsated and vibrated with life and energy. It was percussive, magnetic, and at times frenzied, while eerily calm and collected in other sections.

Choreographed primarily by Bill Young, “Strung” espoused the unique, organic quality that is typical of his work. The piece began with a bang—quite literally—as a dancer threw herself off the stage and onto the floor of the theater in order to escape the glare of a fellow dancer.

Encased in navy uniforms, the “Strung” dancers scuffed, twitched, undulated, ran, jumped, and threw themselves about the stage. The piece was filled with emotional intensity and connection—the complete opposite of the previous piece by Melnick. There was even a brief period in which the movement stopped altogether and the dancers carried out whispered conversations on stage.

These dancers seemed to work together against the oppressive, utilitarian sound design and sterile stage to fight off a threat of dissolution and destruction. They moved together seamlessly until jumping off the stage to scream for several moments as they writhed on the theater floor.

In another significant stylistic departure, Laura Dean’s “Sky Light” had a distinct ritual dance quality, as dancers whirled and jumped to the beats of live timpani, snare, and bass drums that shared the stage. The dance was remarkable for the sheer aerobic demands of its movement, which the dancers performed with mostly consistent energy. One dancer was mouthing the counts at one point, and a few others began to show signs of tiring, but the audience reacted enthusiastically to the dervish-like spinning solos that each of the six dancers had in a center spotlight.

Lisa de Ribere’s “The Trout,” set to Schubert’s piano quintet of the same name, offered the fourth divergent choreographic concept and was the only ballet piece. Perhaps the program’s organizers thought that the night should end on a happy note, given the emotional and physical intensity of the previous numbers. “The Trout” certainly achieved that goal, with the smiling faces and sprightly, sometimes graceful, yet simple performances of de Ribere’s cast of dancers.

Ultimately, the order of the pieces, awkward juxtaposition of such different types of dance, varying skill levels of the dancers, and inconsistent energy in the performance made the evening seem to lack a sense of cohesion. However, Young’s piece and a few outstanding dancers carried the Barnard Dances program through its rockier moments.