Four works make up “Vanishing Points,” Hedwig Dances’ program now at Stage 773, each sporting strengths and shortcomings, but all boasting distinct visual elements.
Minimalist conceptual art thus shares the billing. That’s most striking in Hedwig founder Jan Bartoszek’s “Dance of Forgotten Steps,” which uses Petra Bachmaier’s video and Barbara Cooper’s gauzy, movable set pieces to create its solemn, dreamlike world. The projections are white images of the dancers in movement–animated performers part of the cast. They’re broadcast on Cooper’s semi-circular columns, tall structures that are basically pillars cross-sectioned in half.
Bartoszek’s dance explores a wide catalog of landscapes and scenarios by manipulating these columns, which vary from vertical cabinets encasing the dancers to horizontal tunnels the performers crawl inside. Mystery is key to “Forgotten Steps,” which also benefits from Bartoszek’s focused, short-lived designs, intelligent and well-crafted, intricate mixes of groupings propelled by their own irrepressible logic.
The three other choreographers are all Cuban-born, two of them doubling as dancers on the bill. Victor Alexander’s “Line of Sighs” turns on the dozen ropes from set designer Deborah Valoma, ropes that run from the rear of the stage all the way to the front. They create a grid with movable parts, a grid that in the hands of the dancers becomes various versions of an abstract spider web, the three men in the cast variously trapped inside or grabbing the ropes with their hands and bringing them together for intriguing imagery.
Like all four works, “Line of Sighs” has its slow points, but its animated, mini-dramas of conflict and power are frequently compelling.
Possibly the most inventive work, “Por Dentro,” employs no set pieces. But Michel Rodriguez’ approach to choreography is a visual experiment all by itself. He mixes concert movement with graphic, everyday gestures, almost icky in their personal intimacy–a dancer sniffs his hand or, in a frenzy of scratching, they all appear besieged by fleas. A couple sensually make love while the three others gambol in horseplay. Elsewhere, two sit and stare in their own drama while others dance.
“It’s Not About You” by Judith Sanchez Ruiz is more negligible, failing to make much use of the symbol of a giant rope eventually tying its two dancers together.
“Vanishing Points”
Works from Hedwig Dances
When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday through April 22
Where: Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Av.
Price: $15-$25; 773-327-5252 or stage773.com
