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| Photo by Eric Bandiero | happy beginnings: Allison Beler, Rachel Rizzuto and Misuzu Hara (standing) find their Appalachian
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Homework
New Work at Triskelion Split Bill
By QUINN BATSON
Offoffoff.com
Picasso is not the only one to say something like "luck comes with work". Mari Meade and dancers work continually to create and refine new pieces, and that work shows, in this world is not my home. It's silly, violent and sweet, an unusual combination.
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| | | MARI MEADE: NOT MY HOME | Choreography by: Mari Meade, Chris Herde.
Dancers: Mari Meade: Allison Beler, Dia Dearstyne, Breanna Gribble, Misuzu Hara, Morgan Hurst, Isaac Owens, Or Reitman, Rachel Rizzuto
Chris Herde: Adam Gauzza, Morgan Hicks, Oceane Hooks-Camilleri, Calvin Tsang.
Sound design by: Lea Bertucci (Herde).
Costumes by: Marc Witmer (Meade).
| | SCHEDULE | Triskelion Arts
September 24, 2015
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Old-timey music makes up most of the soundtrack, and the performers play with it and against it. An opening duet is straightahead dance. The group section that follows is full of air guitar and silly mimic, almost making fun and definitely having fun.
Group-ness is prominent; this is a cohesive bunch. But conflict and casual violence come with cohesion too. Sometimes bodies pile on bodies in solidarity and familiarity. Other times contact is darker, notably in the"This World Is Not My Home" section. Breathtaking impacts never lose their power as each dancer takes a turn standing or attempting to stand in a square of light as footsteps racing from the darkness announce the next knockdown blow. This is tense, even dangerous, stuff.
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| Photo by Eric Bandiero | | L-R:Morgan Hurst, Isaac Owens, Allison Beler, Breanna Gribble, Or Reitman, Dia Dearstyne, Rachel Rizzuto
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The group does coalesce again for "The Last Goodbye" section, twist-swinging torsos in unison, again in stark spotlight but without the blows. It is quite an arc from the silliness of lipsynching to the silence of swinging shoulders; this group has moved to a darker place. A falling, scrambling solo by Isaac Owens doesn't leave us feeling any more secure at the end, but it feels fitting and keeps us charged, leaving us with plenty to chew on.
The other part of this Split Bill series on this evening was Chris Herde and Dancers. Onstage video hardware won, or lost, our attention for much of telephone home movies, and live audio manipulations took a close second. Unfortunatey, this left little chance to appreciate the short bursts of quality dancing and singing by Adam Gauzza, Morgan Hicks, Oceane Hooks-Camilleri and Calvin Tsang. Clarity of purpose and more effective staging might save things, in a different venue.
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SEPTEMBER 28, 2015
OFFOFFOFF.COM • THE GUIDE TO ALTERNATIVE NEW YORK
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