Electronic minor chords telegraph the sadness of Animus Necandi as the curtain rises on a pile of inert bodies centerstage. It is flanked by a concert piano on one side and what appears to be a gurney lugging a cadaver on another. Soon a tall lean dancer wearing a leotard with a squiggle design that one might later interpret as a decomposing skeleton makes subtle torso gyrations before joining the human clump on the floor.
A silver-haired man enters the action. He is concert pianist John Gavalchin who holds one of the seeming dead bodies close before performing works by Scriabin, Bellini, and Scarlatti. The dancers come to life— or semi-life. There is a signature crawl movement like worms that shows the great control and skill of the dancers. Eventually the ensemble is in a circle around the piano. It could almost be a folk dance, were it not for the linger of opening minor chords and feeling of darkness throughout this work that choreographer Felipe Escalante intends as a way to shed light on the pain of capital punishment for the families of those facing death penalties.
Without break for intermission Ship of Fools continues the program. Here the theme is of autocracy and its dangers. We see group think emerge literally as the dancers lock their heads into Neon lit helmets hooked to some mysterious power orb above. Later, each ensemble member becomes garbed in what seems like suits of metallic post-it notes.
In both pieces, the costumes and set design intrigue. For this reviewer though, as perhaps others, there was no discernible connection between the program notes on these heavy topics— death penalty and autocracy- -and the movement languages of the choreography. We do see very able and lithe dancers often using wide leaps and expansive arms as they gracefully take hold of the stage. If the intent is to use dance to explore these topics in ways that other art forms cannot, it remained out of reach for this reviewer, other than the minor chord intros that told us to feel somber.
WHEN:
September 20-21, 2024
WHERE:
Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College
524 W. 59th Street
New York, NY 10019
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.
