REVIEWBY MARY GIBBLE and DANI VILLALOBOS
Special to The Post and Courier
On Monday, the Piccolo Spoleto Dance at Noon program closed with Gathering Wild Dance Companys 27, a production inspired by the rock-and-roll members of the so-called 27 Club.
Its a club most dont want membership in; to qualify you must be a rock musician who dies at the age of 27. Turns out there are quite a few who did so.
The music of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin underscored Gathering Wilds contemporary and free-flowing movements.
Choreographers Jerylann Warner and Charles Bubba Carr, mapped out the 12 musical selections. It was a tough feat to meld so many styles in a single piece, but as Warner and Carr skillfully proved, it was doable.
Though diverse in musical style and sound, a distinct pattern emerged: Canon. Various sections that interweave, stabilize then disperse. Movement that breathes and arms that sway.
The choreography was dynamic and visually complex, with a group of dancers sitting and rocking stage left and another clapping and sweeping into attitude pirouettes stage right. The work is well-crafted and ambitious, but as the program continued, the vision became muddled. The dancers unpolished execution made the intricate sequencing appear chaotic and overwhelming. And soon, the intent behind the movement also lost its clarity.
The first member of the 27 Club to receive attention was Jim Morrison, who passed away in 1971. The Doors The Ghost Song set the mood. Morrisons dark chants, accented by tribal beats, evoked the eerie post-mortem tone that characterized the section as a whole. The dancers loose, whimsical upper bodies and almost inebriated expressions took on the tone of Morrison the man rather than the content of the songs.
Milk It, the second number in the Kurt Cobain section, was a deviation from the ethereal and modern dance-based choreography. The heavy sound and thrashing elements were a definite homage to Nirvanas live shows.
Amy Winehouses You Know Im No Good embodied her character with the cheeky trio of dancers that incorporated more playful choreography than technical moves. This choice illustrated Winehouses greatest musical influences, the RB girl groups of the early 1960s. This choreography honored the artist best.
As the performance reached its final two artists, movement relied heavily on the rhythms and accents of the music. Janis Joplins string of three maybes in the chorus inspired the three dancers to turn, fall or hit a specific pose with each repeated phrase. The selection of Maybe and Mercedes Benz, however, did not live up to the legacy of this pioneer of rock-and-roll feminism. Lethargic, heavy choreography dominated these pieces and seemed out of place when trying to convey Joplins signature swagger.
Jimi Hendrix, arguably the most famous member of the 27 Club, was underrepresented. Portions of Little Wing and Purple Haze were included, but like the lives of the featured musicians, were over far too soon. This being the tail end of an hour-long performance, the dancers energy began to wane and made the choreography lack luster.
To catch more of Gathering Wild Dance Company, as well as other performers from the Dance at Noon series, head over to the Piccolo Spoleto Dance Festival today at the Footlight Theatre, 20 Queen St., between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Mary Gibble and Dani Villalobos are Newhouse School graduate students.
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