‘Connections’ really connected

Queen’s Hall’s stage was the workable putty for the visions of these Contemporary dancers, who transformed the stage from Thursday July 3 to Sunday July 6.

I must admit I had some difficulty in deciding where my review should begin. There were so many intriguing aspects of the show that I really could not decide where to start. Ah ha! There must be something in the notes I scribbled on the night that would hint where I should begin. After flipping pages with remarks such as “I liked this” and “lively piece”, as though it was written in bold, I saw “It’s the piece that made me say wow, we have grown,” as if that was not clear enough I wrote “I loved this” in brackets, as though to emphasise the impact. I was referring to the Company’s interpretation of Martha Graham’s 1936 piece titled Steps in the Street – Devastation – Homelessness – Exile. The Company stayed true to the original design by Martha Graham with the all female cast in black dresses flowing down to a length just above the ankle.

There were moments when the music composed by Wallingford Riegger dropped and there was the haunting sound of the dancers’ feet sweeping across the stage. It seemed as though the dancers felt the depth of this piece—they were into this one—with solemn faces and strong, quick unusual movements, they depicted a strange and discomfiting situation, an ignored reality.

Going back to my notes… for this one I wrote “genius in insanity”. Let me explain myself. This piece involved an unsure, counting, shooting goldfish, an appearance by “a blimp” and bananas and palm trees. This piece titled “Counting…Premiere” was brilliantly choreographed by Sonja Dumas. What made this piece interesting and unique was the inclusion of a script, powerfully articulated by the goldfish. This piece started off as a comedy, but by the end of it when the audience realised what the goldfish was counting or rather subtracting, instead of laughter throughout the audience you heard people, including me, saying “Or ok ok I get it, umhmmmmm, yes yes”. I only got this one at the end but it was a lot to get. I wanted to see it again with my new perspective; this comedy pointed to an existing tragedy.

There was also “Tarana with visitations of Tap”, this piece was absolutely captivating. Though there were two other performances of a similar tone, this is the one that I felt most.

The concept for this performance was developed by Sat Balkarnsingh. A live ensemble of African drummers, pannist Martin Cain, Sharda Patasar (Sitar) and Prashant Patassar (Tabla) created a musical rapture which enthralled the audience and prepared the dancers for a vibrant performance. No group was out of place, the Kathak Dancers from the Nrityanjali Theatre were just as relevant as the Tap Dancers from Metamorphosis. The dancers contributed to the musical fusion using the stage as their instrument.

This piece was a reminder of the beauty that comes with taking diverse ingredients and mixing them together to make a sweet blend.

Other thrilling pieces included “The Cherry Tree” which pleasingly included the music of Black Stalin, the dancers seemed to enjoy this piece; “After the Fat Lady Sings, Then What?” where the guys did their thing making pointing and dropping on stage seem effortless; “Sermon on the Rock” presented the hip-hop feel as the guys once again made intricate flowing moves, this time to the sounds of Notorious BIG and Demarco amongst other artistes; in “Blue Red Woman” the soloist kept your eyes glued to her swirls as she danced to the live guitar and moving vocals of Gillian Moore; “Bow-Wood” brought the most impressive costumes onstage to the music of Johann Schein and Georg Friedrich Handel played by The Lydian Steel.

During the intermission, I spoke with the Artistic Director, Nancy Herrera. I was interested in finding out what stood out to her about this particular presentation.

She said that it was the soloists’ performances that were dear to her heart. For her the reward was in being a part of her girls’ development from the basics of dance to the delivery of riveting performances.

In addition to Mrs Herrera, Gillian Merry, Carol Yip Choy, Susan Shurland, Lisa Beharry and Nariba Robinson formed the Production Team. Curtis Bachan took care of the Lighting and Stage Management was manned by Maria King, Calvin Bartholomew, Paul King and Rodrick Gordon. Make-up was done by Edmond Johnson. Despite the unwanted hiccups that are inevitable with any production, the Metamorphosis Dance Company rose above their challenges to present an inspiring programme.