Golden-garbed and emanating a commanding presence even when he is still, choreographer/dancer Stacy Matthew Spence begins I am, here; Here with us; Where we find ourselves with a purposeful stride circling the stage. You too might find yourself immediately glued to his large expressive hands.
Then sparks fly. It is the electricity of Spence’s on and off sync with Roberto Giaquinto, the Italian percussionist who emotes with his sticks and drums from the stageright back corner. Giaquinto is a jazz crooner using drums instead of voice. Spence doesn’t dance to Giaquinto’s rhythms. He seems instead to periodically do a deep dive to touch base with the waxing and waning percussion. When he does, it’s as though he gives Giaquinto another mic, using his body to give momentary amplification.
When purple clad Joanna Kotze joins Spence on the stage, Giaquinto’s presence recedes just a bit. She, like Giaquinto, is both dancing with Spence and not — or rather, joining to make a trio. They are both together and not- instead spinning off for solo explorations.
American Dance Festival Performance Charged With Live Music
The distinct colors of the costumes seem to say it all. Tim Bendernagel joins in green, with —and he is less silo and more dancing with— Hsiao-Jou, clad in rusty red. The four dancers are not red, green, blue antipodes, but just as distinct. We aren’t visually cued by costume or choreography to see a tight community or ensemble. Not sync’d but not at odds either. It’s the kind of sympatico energy you feel getting mesmerized by the flora and fauna in an aquarium.
Enter the other worldly voice with electonic augmentation of vocalist Charlotte Jacobs. For this reviewer, “…Where we find ourselves..” is now in another dimension, Though Jacob’s electronically looping voice comes late to our ears, you too might imagine that the dancers could hear its galvanizing energy all along.
Most of us would agree that live music accompanying dance is always exciting. I am, here; Here with us; Where we find ourselves epitomizes this maxim.
For more information visit the American Dance Festival website.
Photos Elyssa Goodman
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About the Author: Amy Munice
Amy Munice is Editor-in-Chief and Co-Publisher of Picture This Post. She covers books, dance, film, theater, music, museums and travel. Prior to founding Picture This Post, Amy was a freelance writer and global PR specialist for decades—writing and ghostwriting thousands of articles and promotional communications on a wide range of technical and not-so-technical topics.
