Dance Review: Decreation, Forsythe at BAM

October 8, 2009 by iDANZ Today
Filed under iDANZ Critix Corner -Dance Reviews, Performance Art - Dance, Reviews

Wednesday night I show up to BAM for Forsythe. As a dancer who has seen many works by William Forsythe, there is a particular aesthetic you become to expect of him. Well, his evening length piece, choreographed in 2003 entitled Decreation, does not subscribe to that particular idea of freakishly perfect trinas in funky tutus and men with 6 packs and feet better than most of the ballerinas on stage. Boy oh boy, am I in for a rude awakening when at 30 minutes into the piece the performers are still twitching and screaming at each other an the audience. It makes for an interesting evening and I am glad to have seen it, but I am still unsure about my opinion; so, let’s see what comes out as I write my review…

I leave the theater in deep thought. Decreation deconstructs a moment from that conversation with someone that decides the course of the future for that particular relationship. It fragments the words exchanged, sheds a different light on those moments that often define what it is that makes up that relationship… Still following me?? Imagine it on stage with no one to explain it to you….

The sometimes abstract and sometimes literal and deliberate dramaturgy is written by Rebecca Groves. She weaves these emotions of jealousy and rage and acceptance perfectly. There is no question that people will disappoint you, and mistakes can be forgiven but not forgotten. The script and performance of it taps into that part of your brain that replays a conversation over and over again, until you have driven yourself crazy with what it even means to begin with.

I have to stop here and apologize for my cerebral review. It is hard to review the physicalization of these ideas because I’m not sure what I saw. It is completely different from anything else I have ever seen. I don’t even know if I liked it or not. It is riveting yet somewhat detached but still very emotional. To get an idea as to what it looked like, strip away the image of technical dancing, no arabesques or pointed feet, and now take Bat Sheva, lock them in an asylum for a couple of years with no light, then suddenly flip the switch and throw them on stage and see what happens. When I try to do what I remember them doing I feel like I’m covered in bed bugs and cobwebs…. ya now know what I’m talking about. How do you describe 20 some odd dancers twitching on stage to no music and offensively loud screeching microphones?%$@*!

Having said all that, the piece is an interesting work: it raises a lot of questions about how it is when you relive those intense relationship changing moments, it blurs the lines between dance and theater, and anything that is edgy and intelligent is not always easy to watch. Forsythe will be at BAM Oct 7-10.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Dante Puleio
Performance: Decreation
Choreographer: William Forsythe
Venue: BAM, Brooklyn, NY
Show Date: Wednesday, October 7, 2009
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