One Good Quote: MidCentury Blue(s) with the Wax Poet(s)

In Fall 2017, Life as a Modern Dancer launched a new concept for post-performance discussion and writing. The goals are multi-fold:

• What are new ways to invite post-performance writing (since so few publications now print dance reviews, and there are fewer and fewer dance critics in the United States)?
• How can choreographers hear and read more from audience members about their impressions and experiences of dance events?
• Can we offer new mechanisms for choreographers to gather language about their work, to further their work and to promote their work? 

The premise is simple. If you experienced the Wax Poet(s)' production of MidCentury Blue(s) at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center (February 8 and 9, 2020), please take a few minutes to leave a comment. Write down images, impressions, appreciations, and questions from the performance. These can be words, phrases, or a few sentences. 

We thank you for your time, support, and thoughtfulness. Here's to more dialogue, more reflection, and more writing on the dance performance experience. As choreographer Mariah Steele noted, we are "democratizing dance criticism."

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Comments

[Zackary Forcum]

I have been following Wax Poet(s) and their work for years, and Mid-Century Blues was a smooth extension of their artistic voice. Heather and Garth took some real risks by working with the container of their subject matter, and the structure in which they worked seem to invite in essential elements of their unique styles while being its own distinct work. When I watch Wax Poet(s) I often remember why I love dance. Their inventive use of refined movement, melded together from engaging collaborations, as if it weren’t no thang—the ease of their artistry is both breathtaking and grounding.

[Dana Lawton]

Some of the most embodied, thoughtful, smart dancing I have seen in a long time. A very intelligent concept, well crafted and artful.

[Olutola]

Brilliant and Breathtaking.

[Robin Nasatir]

This show was delicious. The set and lighting designers did an amazing job of transforming the space. The costumes were fantastic - bold colors, and striking designs. The dancers were stunning - so skilled, so strong, so graceful, so generous. Thank you, Garth and Heather!

[Aiano Nakagawa]

The collaboration between dancers, choreographers, lighting designers, set designers, musicians, and costumers was a seamless success. Together, all of the artists involved transported me out of the studio space into a magical art bubble. The show was smart, funny, compelling, and stunning to watch. This show was truly a model for what is possible through artistic collaboration.

[Kristin Damrow]

I enjoyed how Garth and Heather transformed the space offering the audience a palate to take in the inventive sections. A clever choice to give the lighting its own voice, it adding another deep layer to their already complex choreography.

[Jill Randall]

I loved being there Sunday night for the 8:30pm show.

It started for me with seeing the delight and happiness of the audience members coming downstairs from the previous show, and one acquaintance sharing her response to it with me in the lobby.

Then I got to go upstairs and enjoy it myself.

Right from the start, I loved the choice of having audience members on two sides of the performers. It immediately added depth and dimensionality to the work.

Frankie Lee Peterson III's opening solo - in silence - had my attention with every move. My timing synced with his. Pure clarity of movement and focus.

Next up was Julie Crothers - dressed in bright orange - with a driving solo painting the space. I could have watched Julie all night.

Next up - an improvised duet in blue with Frankie, Julie, text, and playful movement. Back to the idea of delight. How hard it is to pull off humor, and how important it is for us to laugh together and be in the space together. Plus, Frankie and Julie's precision remained strong throughout the score. Loved it.

The piece ended with a chorus of teens filling the room, improvising, and using the lights on their phones to be like fireflies. They surrounded Frankie and Julie. I loved bringing into the room youth, improvisation, pedestrian clothes and movement, and melding concert dance with the dances of everyday.

Thank you.

[Katie Faulkner]

MidCentury Blue(s) was a deeply satisfying, focused, and engaging work that left me inspired and hungry for more. This was collaboration at its best, as the work provided a cohesive and thoughtful marriage of multiple artistic perspectives (choreographers, designers, performers) without muddying the distinction each voice provided. Having watched Heather and Garth make work together for several years now, I was able to identify their smart, individual aesthetics while also feeling a clear sense of the logic that draws them to each other as collaborators. I imagined the final, playful, intimate duet between dancers Frankie and Julie as in some way analogous to Garth and Heather's creative partnership -- there is love there, (while power is also delicately, irreverently tested between them), and the collision of these big-hearted, physical thinkers gives us a vivid way to imagine how all of our relationships might become more artfully imagined.