Review: AN ASIAN AMERICAN DANCE JOURNEY, PROGRAM B at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

The dance community has a bit of a tendency to keep to itself. Perhaps because of the all-consuming schedule of a dancer, relatively few artists cross between other disciplines. But DC’s Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company is at the forefront of a movement to make modern dance more collaborative with other art forms. The final show in their 33rd season incorporates fashion design, videography, sculpture, and painting directly into the choreography. This mutli-modal creation is titled An Asian American Dance Journey, Program B. It consists of four pieces, three in act one and one longer number for act two.

The first piece, Drawing in Space, is based on sculptures by Japanese artist Ruth Asawa. The title comes from Asawa’s own description of her works which are bulbous, symmetrical wire forms. Images of them are projected on a stark white backdrop that evokes a blank canvas. Two dancers, a man and a woman are both also dressed in all white. 

This is a shape-based piece. The dancers position themselves and each other in poses that mimic or complement the shapes projected behind them. There is a lot of stillness, and very little of the two dancers' movements are synchronized. They affect each other but act as two distinct entities. It seems that the woman embodies or maybe controls the projections. Her partner interacts with them and her but at a distance. Their movement, and the movement of the projections, mirrors the melodic but punctuated music. 

In contrast, the second piece is highly relational. The full company performs in Meditations, mostly in couples with barely an eight-count of solo work here and there. Most of their movement is synchronized; all of it is interactive. One dancer’s arm movement initiates another’s turn in an ongoing conversation. In the arm movements, especially, the choreography channels Tai chi, with gestures that collect and project energy. The piece ends in a circle. Each couple bows to one another then turns to rest each with their head on the other’s shoulder. 

After that, there is a solo, Khaybet - The Shadow. You don’t need to read the program to know that it deals with mortality. The sole female dancer is shrouded in a brown veil and almost equally constricting long brown dress. You never see her face. The choreography feels tight and explosive, her movement constricted to the space illuminated by a warm yellow light glowing from the back corner of the stage. At one point the light beam extends, creating a diagonal lane. The dancer fills every inch it allows, but she cannot escape its glow. Eventually, she slows, pulls back her veil as she faces away from the audience, and walks into the light as it calls her, slowly, deliberately, and of her own volition. 

After intermission comes Sudden Snow, another full company and mutli-modal piece, bringing back elements of all the first act numbers. This is a dance based on paintings, that were themselves based on music. It all fits together with the paintings projected on the backdrop, animated to match the music which the dancers also closely match, while wearing costumes that match the paintings. 

The choreography sticks almost exactly and very literally to the music with close to one gesture per beat. Trills of piano keys are matched by trills of fingers. The dancers seem to be acting the music out, as do the animated projections of the paintings. Though there are many elements in play, none are distracting; everything is working together in close partnership. This creates a satisfying experience even if it does drag on a bit. 

Any show with a sole choreographer risks feeling rote, and there are indeed tropes that appear in each number’s different context. There are variations on the theme and there is a satisfying cohesion to the way everything matches, but the choreography does get repetitive in its consistency. Thankfully, dancers give it their all, getting the most out of each movement and adding artistry to every step. 

The added visual elements also help to keep things interesting. When music, lighting, set, costuming, and choreography all work together, modern dance becomes more cohesive and understandable than usual. By leaning into the collaborative method, the Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company is able to fully explore a theme and present it to the audience in an accessible way, while still keeping that special weirdness emblematic of modern dance.

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