Brilliant. Quirky. Beautiful. Don’t miss The Chase Brock Experience!

The Chase Brock Experience is just that: an experience, something to encounter and undergo.  Witnessing a performance of this dance troupe, I feel the highly creative Chase Brock come alive and his spirit embodied by an amazing group of dancers whose entertainment emits a beautiful quirky quality. 

At first glance, the Chase Brock Experience seems composed of caricatured personalities on stage.  Opening the program is Mission Implausible, a cartoonish dance in which the dancers’ comical characters appear in various scenarios juxtaposed to one another.  Clearly, Chase Brock requires not only technical virtuosity from his dancers, but an essential acting ability as well. 

Before long I find myself lost in the world of Chase Brock Experience.  Their dance transforms me into the psyche of a daydreamer.  While the performance conveys a musical theater influence, the dancers remain laid back and not overly exaggerated.  In the setting of Baruch Performing Arts Center, the curtain-less stage creates an atmosphere of blurred boundaries.  What happens onstage becomes an extended dimension of reality, where the imagination of the audience is set loose. 

The program’s second piece, Curious Episode, depicts another form of life caricatured on stage.  The exaggerated gestural choreography creates the sensation of flipping through a comic book.  Chase Brock succeeds in choreographing a contemporary interpretation of playful patterns found in a classically stylized score.  

Good Breeding follows and is reminiscent of Balanchine choreography in its structure.  Yukiko Kashiki is delightful in her expressiveness (watch this woman to learn how to better use one’s eyes in performance!) and crisp technique.  Like a kaleidoscopic vision, the Chase Brock Experience interweaves patterns of movement, à la an innocent drug trip through the experience of attending a rigorous dance training program.  Such experimentation epitomizes the pure joy of movement.  Through its persistent element of surprise, the Chase Brock Experience teaches the audience to abandon any pre-con

ceived expectations.  The changing relationships between dancers fuels interest throughout as dancers stir up mischief with a rond de jambe.  Witnessing how Chase Brock translates a piqué coupé into a stumble, one comprehends why an audience member comments that “Chase is just so brilliant – it’s amazing”. 

In Tossing and Yearning, the dancers embrace the choreography as their own, tossing aside any sense that they are portraying other characters.  The dancers are revealed to show off their individual talents as well as their deep personal yearnings.  David Guggino executes a break dance inspired solo with impressive finesse.  Dean de Luna presents technical brilliance with a sincere demeanor, and Ryan Jackson proves himself to be a dynamic mover, expressive with clear intentions. 

Like flipping through an old yearbook, Junk and Lies triggers the memories of past relationships and experiences.  With a terrific dramatic performance by Emily Oldak, the piece crescendos towards climax in a fast paced dancing frenzy, leaving behind unresolved tension.  The performance closes with What a Wonderful World, an expression of the universal experience of dancing in one’s bedroom – in one’s underwear.  Filled with an adolescent orange soda pop energy, the dance propells the audience back into the real world.  

The Chase Brock Experience leaves the audience in a pleasurable state, not unlike the viewing of a good romantic comedy.  As I join in the giving of a standing ovation, I realized there are quite a few other dancers in the audience.  A contagious excitement electrifies the crowd, and I overhear someone comment on it being a “real pleasure to see [Chase Brock’s] work…unbelievable…great group of people”.  After several bows by the cast, I am awed when the dancers express their gratitude towards the audience and encourage donations to Dancers Responding to AIDS. 

Exiting the theatre and recalling the simple snazzy vocabulary of steps used in the performance, I realized I have witnessed movement that is real life accentuated. Someone asks a companion how she enjoyed the show and

 she replies, “Wonderful! Very cool, love it!”.  Upon seeing the choreographer himself, dressed for business in a suit with neon striped sneakers, I think, “Now that’s my style – the kind of experience I pursue – a mixture of work with play.” 

Finally, I overhear Chase Brock call to a friend, “What a delight to reconnect now!” and I concur, feeling as if the whole Chase Brock Experience has simply reconnected me to something inherently my own. 

iDANZ Critix Corner

Official Dance Review by Lea McGowan

Performance: The Chase Brock Experience

Choreographer:  Chase Brock

Venue:  Baruch Performing Arts Center/Baruch College

Performance Date:  Sunday April 26th, 2009 8PM Program B

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