Robyn Mineko Williams Presents Echo Mine at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in honor of Claire Bataille, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago founding dancer and Williams’ friend and mentor, at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance.
A video of Claire Bataille, founding member of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, begins to play on three panels housing projection screens at the back of the stage. Three panels of translucent fabric that lay in front of the screen, blurring it just slightly. The video shows Claire in her early days as a dancer, long before she was asked to create a piece with choreographer Robyn Mineko Williams. It was also long before she was diagnosed and passed away from pancreatic cancer.
Robyn Mineko Williams is Keeping Memories Alive
Williams didn’t originally intend to create a tribute piece, according to the program. She began working with Bataille on a solo as a way to spend time with her friend and mentor. When Bataille passed away, Williams received Batailles’ blessing to use the material for the solo they created together to make a longer piece.
In the vivid and touching climax of the performance, the audience sees Bataille’s solo, performed in a chair both by Bataille projected on a video screen, and on stage by dancers Jacqueline Burnett, Meredith Dincolo, and Williams herself. The dancers on stage are silhouetted moving in unison, the focus set on Bataille. Seeing Bataille dancing alongside the dancers on stage is extremely powerful. We see the lessons taught by Bataille live on through the dancers and the people whose lives she touched. Even without the context of Batailles legacy, the vision of dancers of different ages doing the same movements, translated on different bodies, is mesmerizing, relatable, and unique in itself.
Recurring movements from the solo are translated and repurposed into different moments of the work. At times, the dancers manipulate each other’s bodies to create shapes from the solo. In this reviewer's opinion, these moments of connection between the dancers bring up ideas of reminiscing in the memories of someone who has passed. There is a tenderness in the movement that makes it very special and precious. We experience the movement as a memento, keeping the memory of a loved one alive.
Funky and Fresh
Echo Mine’s production elements, scenic and projection design by CandyStations and lighting design by Eric Southern, take the production to a different world with vibrant lighting and video projections. These transform into psychedelic distortions of flashback videos of Bataille dancing during her time at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.
A horizontal beam of fluorescent light also cuts across the back of the stage, reminding this reviewer of a funky ballet barre. The light changes colors like a mood ring setting the scene throughout the dance.
Meanwhile, original music by Califone also captures the essence of the evening through rock music that shifts in tone and seriousness with the dancers, video projections, and lighting, with ease. The title song, Echo Mine, brings out the ideas of loss, remembering, and legacy that are also so prevalent in the choreography.
A Legacy Lives On
Not only does Echo Mine carry the memory of Claire Bataille, but it shows the legacy of dancers who have all moved together and learned from each other in various moments of their careers. Williams learned from Bataille, and carries her memory through movement, in the same way that Dincolo, Burnett, and Williams all learn from each other. In the program, Williams calls Echo Mine a reflection of Bataille, of her impact and the time the two shared together. The piece eloquently illustrates the idea that people are a reflection of who impacts them, and the ways that those memories live on even through loss.
Highly Recommended
For more information about Williams visit Robyn Mineko Williams and Artists website, and for more information about upcoming performances at the Harris Theater visit the Harris Theater website.
Photos by Rachel Aka
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About the Author:
Hayley Ross graduated from Ohio University in 2016 with degrees in Dance and Journalism. Originally from Columbus, Ohio, Hayley began dancing at the age of four. She has studied Ballet, Pointe, Modern, Jazz, Contemporary, and African dance and regularly can be found taking dance and Pilates at Chicago's Lou Conte Dance Studio. Hayley has completed internships at CityScene Media Group, OhioDance, the Chautauqua Institution, and American Dance Festival. She currently works in the Marketing department at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago as the Marketing Manager. Learn more about Hayley at hayleyross.weebly.com
