Precision and Spectacle by Two Hyphenates in Progress
In recent years the relationship between choreographer and dancer has become more fluid, producing new ways of moving as well as adaptable performers with diverse résumés and healthy imaginations. Two such examples, Walter Dundervill and Heather Olson, have struck out on their own in a shared program at Dance Theater Workshop, first presented on Wednesday night.
Each is in transition as a choreographer, demonstrating varying degrees of individual spirit. In “Curious awake not possible” Ms. Olson proves the less adventurous but the more exacting. (Coincidentally or not, both dances feature ideas of twinning.)
At the start of Ms. Olson’s duet, she and Emily Tschiffely, wearing black shorts and turtleneck sweaters by Mindy Nelson, peek at the audience from behind curtains. Precise movement, which includes winding arms and footwork that makes the most of bare legs, is clipped and sharp, punctuated by glassy stares. Featuring excellent sound design by James Lo, “Curious awake not possible” stirs up a world of stony, even hostile emotions, in which Ms. Olson’s attack hovers over the stage like a noose.
There is more visual acuteness in Mr. Dundervill’s new “You Wrote the Book,” a continuation of his “Would You Read My Poetry?” from last year. Once again the star is the costumes, also by Mr. Dundervill, which include 18th-century-inspired dresses, silver aprons and Marie Antoinette wigs. He has also designed the set: a large cloth raised on three sides to create a room within a room, in and out of which stylized narratives proceed.
By the exuberant finale, six dancers, resplendent in silver foil, inhabit the same world and shed their inhibitions by executing vigorous, repetitive jumping jacks in the air and making snow angels on the floor. It’s something of a cheerful mess, framed by John Jasperse and Joe Levasseur’s glamorous lighting. True, the choreography is negligible, but there’s nothing wrong with a spectacle.
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