Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago Presents THE SELDOMS’ GRASS Review — Smooth Melds

Posted on by Amy Munice

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Roots project behind them as their torsos angle in different directions.  Each had moved to a silent staccato beat just before the projection seemed to shout rhizome…  

You too might agree with this reviewer that sans these visual clues—or the sound of lawnmowers as each dancer quakes like a blade of the titular grass —we could be watching an interpretive dance about the breakup of the European Union, the vicissitudes of the global pandemic, or maybe the Cliff Notes dance-style of War and Peace.

For this writer, if this dance were about any one of these erudite topics or the infinite list of alt themes, it wouldn’t matter. Here is a chance to watch four highly trained dancers bring engaging movement melodies to life.  Like the aforementioned rhizome moment, each seems to stay within the natural orb of their unique movement center, yet effortlessly find a way to meld with their partners.  On floor, standing as a circle in a pause, twirling a fellow ensemble member, giving their fingers and hands energies that seem to flow from their core in anti-flail, and more--- this is dancing that creates smooth melds.  It feels like we are seeing a multi-movement Chopin work come to life as choreography, in this writer’s view.

 It takes the program notes by The Seldoms’ Artistic Director and choreographer of this work, Carrie Hanson, to explain that this is an exploration of the double entendre of the word Grass.  In one sense it is grass that demands herbicides and more poisons of the ecosystem to keep its pretty face.  On the other, it’s grass meaning marijuana, and purportedly a window to the destruction of the so-called War on Drugs, that has been brought to a close with legalization without provisions to heal the scars it created.

Cannabis Equity Illinois Comes to The Dance Center of Columbia College

For the pot theme, Hanson reached out to Cannabis Equity Illinois, whose members were in the audience for the after talk.  They gave a compelling voice and face to the need for reparations for all those jailed and set back by discriminatory enforcements of drug laws. In this writer’s (White) experience, there are not many forums where this aspect of Jim Crow is given a platform, and for that reason alone this is a laudatory effort. 

This is a top pick for the time of anyone who loves to watch talented dancers bringing unique choreography to life.  Those less interested in contemporary dance will likely not find much to latch on to here.

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WHEN:

Thru October 16

7:30 pm

WHERE:

The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago
1306 S. Michigan Ave.
Chicago

TICKETS:

$30

For tickets, visit The Dance Center at Columbia College website.

Artistic Director: Carrie Hanson
Production Stage Manager: Julie E. Ballard
Choreography: Carrie Hanson, with movement contributions by the ensemble
Lighting: Julie E. Ballard
Text and Additional Direction: Seth Bockley
Animation: Lisa Barcy
Projection Design: Liviu Pasare
Sound Design/Composition: Jeffrey Levin
Videography: Andrew Glatt and Maxwell Schulte
Costumes: Maria Pinto (garments for segment 1)
Performers: Dee Alaba, Sarah Gonsiorowski, Damon D. Green, Maggie Vannucci
Audio/Video Contributions: Ned Overbeke, Paul Robbins, Lina Britto, Alexandria Boutros, Akele Parnell, Mo Williams 

 

Photos by Andrew Glatt

Amy Munice

About the Author: Amy Munice

Amy Munice is Editor-in-Chief and Co-Publisher of Picture This Post. She covers books, dance, film, theater, music, museums and travel. Prior to founding Picture This Post, Amy was a freelance writer and global PR specialist for decades—writing and ghostwriting thousands of articles and promotional communications on a wide range of technical and not-so-technical topics.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ARTICLES BY AMY MUNICE.

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