Saturday, July 26, 2014

David Dorfman Dance


Come, and Back Again
A Dance about
mess, joy, loss, and the persistence of love.

The stage is messy. It's filled with an enormous sculpture of everyday stuff that we all collect. There are bottles, a mattress, a laundry basket, a ladder, buckets, wire and it's all painted white and it's a gigantic wall that looms over the stage. There are six musicians sitting along the wall and there is also a small cardboard house. As the dance e begins David Dorfman speaks about his father and how organized he was. Dorfamn says he is the opposite, messy and a collector of stuff that he can't get rid of. He sets the topic of the evening here, it's all about family and how we interact, and how can we let go?

The dancers exude joy. Dorfman is a master at creating many vignettes within a dance to tell a story. He and his dancers are genuinely smiling throughout much of the dance. This can take you aback at first because it's unusual to see such smiling faces within concert dance. So a tone is set. They are moving with reckless abandon, with huge jumps, swings, kicks that show a very playful and wild side. There was a funny monologue about how to calculate how many people in your life you have unconditionally loved. But then, there was also loss. A duet danced by Christina Robson and Raja Feather Kelly showed how hard it is to leave someone. They would push each other away again and again, but couldn't leave each other. In an amazing feat of strength, Robson runs at Kelly and jumps off the floor with her full body slamming into his chest and they together slowly fall backward. Exquisite beautiful partnering. Kendra Portier and Karl Rodgers were the others in his dance family. Also on stage for cameo moments were Dorfman's nuclear family, his wife Lisa Race, and their son Samson Race Dorfman.

In a solo Dorfman gestured come here while looking back over his shoulder. He then gestured to stop. He continued to gesture come and stop at the same time creating a frenzied desire to have both the past and the future. When he wasn't dancing he took a spot with the musicians and played Accordian and saxophone.

The live music was raw, edgy, and rocking featuring the music of Benjamin Smoke, Patti Smith and traditional folk songs. The band had three Bates Dance Festival musicians as well as three performers who travel with the dance company under the direction of Sam Crawford. They were a big presence onstage which added another layer to the complex multi-media piece. Another layer was the costumes created by Kristi Wood. The dancers wore flowing loose tunics and pants of light material that looked comfortable and homey. The costumes softness contrasted with the forbidding wall of junk and the driving music.

Near the end of the evening length dance the dancers say "Time to go" "I can't wait to go" "let's go" "after you." Then Dorfman sits on a chair center stage and using his cell phone calls his wife, and leaves a message for her about how the show went, when he'll be home, and if she could leave him a little something to eat, he promises he won't make a mess. Now that's the The persistence of love.

Come, and Back Again performed by David Dorfman Dance at the Bates Dance Festival in Lewiston, Maine July 25 & 26, 2014

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