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| Photo by Christopher Duggan | Arika Yamada, Francesca Romo, Mario Bermudez Gil
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Fantastic, Disabled and Freed
Gallim circus in full bloom at The Joyce with Sit, Kneel, Stand
By QUINN BATSON
Offoffoff.com
One creature with astounding abilities but unable to step onto a chair, and others that seem stuck in glue but manage to escape, are part of the mad menagerie of Gallim's Sit Kneel Stand, a true progression in Andrea Miller's choreography.
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| | | GALLIM: SIT, KNEEL, STAND | Choreography by: Andrea Miller.
Produced by: Ken Maldonado.
Dancers: Caroline Fermin, Mario Bermudez Gil, Troy Ogilvie, Francesca Romo, Dan Walczak, Jonathan Royce Windham, Arika Yamada.
Music by: Jerome Begin and Christopher Lancaster.
Costumes by: Jose Solis.
Production stage manager: Stephanie Byrnes.
Lighting and Scenic Design: Vincent Vigilante and Ashley Vellano.
| | SCHEDULE | The Joyce
June 6-10, 2012
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Elements of circus and clowning begin even before the show as Troy Ogilvie's character theatrically tries to lift the Joyce stage from the front row of the audience. And with a bit of comic colliding and bumping, ringmaster Francesca Romo announces, "Thees is how we gonna start the show!"
Sit Kneel Stand plays with bodily control and emotional connection in broad strokes, using Jonathan Royce Windham's character as a sort of disabled do-gooder that all else ignore and thwart as he tries to position chairs. Stacks of wildly piled chairs, and chairs in general, are architectural props more than anything else; dancers rarely sit in them and usually move them briskly elsewhere.
Communication is difficult for all of these creatures, who can only choke out half-words and never generate enough vocal power to be understood. Their frustration is comic and clear; Romo in particular has the tough task of trying to manipulate the meeting of automatons Arika Yamada and Mario Bermudez Gil as both move in ultraslow-motion or not at all, seemingly oblivious of the other despite Romo's best efforts. Predictably, as soon as the two are left on their own, they manage to discover each other in slow, sweet robot increments.
Nothing is linear in the arc of Sit Kneel Stand, though, and that gives it beauty and mystery. Yamada is clearly the focal point, moving in excruciatingly slow and huge steps or being carried around like some acrobatically malleable doll by the crowd of others. But little segments of superstar dancing — and trademark soft jumps that seems to tweak gravity with extra bursts of elevation in midair — break up sections and scramble our attention artfully.
The spells of physical disconnection and torpor are finally broken fully by the end, freeing all to move quiet and soft in a lovely game of tag and playful interactions, in harmony and flawless physical communication.
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JUNE 16, 2012
OFFOFFOFF.COM • THE GUIDE TO ALTERNATIVE NEW YORK
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