Reviews

Lexis Brungardt, eleven, is accompanied by her mother Mendy and her friend Rylee, who is seven and not taking dance lessons, but is just as happy as Lexis to be here. Of dancing, Lexis comments “it is fun and hard work,” and she tells me “ballet means dance in French.” Mendy explains, “The dance instructor said it was rare to have a professional dance group in Southwest Kansas” so they have come from Garden City to see the dancers. Lexis adds that some of her classmates have come also.

One classmate is the lovely Michelle Wehkamp, fifteen, who has been “dancing since five, on and off.” Michelle is more interested in “lyrical dancing,” but eager to see modern dance. Lexis and I do not know what lyrical dance is, so Michelle describes it as “sort of ballet with jazz.” Michelle is part of a group of six (two adults, four teenagers -- two boys, two girls) that traveled from Garden City.

Another lady tells me she is from Perryton, Texas and the girls with her love dancing.

Bella and her equally cute and blond sister Sydney now wave animatedly when they spot their Elkhart dance teacher. Bella’s mom remarks, “Lots of people here from Elkhart.”

The Elkhart dance teacher turns out to be Michelle Hanes of Elkhart, who has come with her dance teacher colleague, Steffani Perry of Boise City, Oklahoma. They teach together at the Head Over Heels Studio in Elkhart -- owned by Crystal Aranda of Guymon, Oklahoma -- which teaches gymnastics, cheerleading, and dance.  Ms. Hanes is the USD 218 District Reading Coach, and Ms. Perry teaches math at Elkhart High School. At least nine of their dance students have come tonight.

Smiling and referring to her students, Ms. Hanes points out the obvious: “They are excited.” Head Over Heels Studio has “preschool through high school students. We teach tap and lyrical, and we want to expose them to this type of culture.”

The culture begins, and Susan Rieger, 940’s Artistic Director, serves throughout the nine-dance performance as master-of-ceremonies; or since this is modern, contemporary dance, Susan would be mistress-of-ceremonies. Or to be really hip and modern, perhaps Susan would after all be master-of-ceremonies. Let us designate her as MC Susan and let the semantic contradiction and tension resonate. Alright? That’s the spirit; now we are into modern dance.

Dance, like all art, aims for emotional narrative and sensual pleasure. A major problem for touring artists of modern dance is accessibility to the narrative and pleasure for audiences who have slight experience with the form. Few of us know what to expect, and few know the grammar or standard metaphors of modern dance. Far more people understand and are roused by the teamwork and athleticism of a triple play than understand the exquisite timing and athleticism of modern dance. MC Susan helps by describing a framework for each dance. Her framework is a title (usually) and an explanation of the dance’s theme, all of which aids the audience in seeking and finding images that can be connected to the dance’s intent.

We are game, so let the show begin, and it does with “The Journey.” MC Susan tells the audience that this dance is about family and close bonds and moving on, perhaps even to death. I am slow to catch on, but the closing tableau is interesting – rich, elegant and delicate.

While the dancers take a breather, MC Susan describes the company’s workweek. Tuesday through Friday, six professionals and an apprentice -- all university trained -- spend twenty hours a week in studio together. On Tuesday, they do ballet, as ballet training is the base for modern dancing (Lexis did say ballet is dance). Wednesdays are for improvisation and group sensitivity, while Thursdays are filled with a type of jumping, continuous motion yoga. Friday concentrates on modern dance.

In addition to rehearsals for 940’s touring show, MC Susan reveals 940 is “currently putting together a show about wind, which is becoming more important as an energy source for our area.”

The second dance, “Vision,” is a solo by Ashley Trullinger, who like Bella began dancing at three. Ms. Trullinger choreographed it with inspiration from her father whose words of optimism and hope are used as voiceover. I am adapting, because I can see Ms. Trullinger’s beautiful movements’ intimate connection to her father’s philosophy of love and endurance.

I keep getting better as the show progresses.

The tone changes to humor with an amusing improvisation “spoof of sports commentators.” Two sports commentators cheerfully banter about four dancers who eventually take over the scene and cart off one commentator. One dancer is a pancake racer, pan in hand, leaping and flipping in a Liberal motif. The little girls think the kidnapped commentator bit is hilarious. Tickled with pleasure, they jump, clap, and laugh.

“The Gleaners” is an artistic extension of the famous Millet painting of the same name of three peasant women picking up left over wheat after harvest. MC Susan, who choreographed this dance, framed it: “I wanted to look at what it would be like today for people who must glean, because they do not have enough to eat.”

I recognized the opening tableau from the painting, the three dancers costumed as mid-nineteenth century French peasants. The dancers do the hard work of gleaning and eventually a mammoth, plastic, four-wheeled trash cart appears. At first, the dancer-actor-peasants show fear and are puzzled by the cart. But hunger makes them daring. They become dumpster divers, pathetically hunching separately on the ground, each wretchedly eating and protecting their own garbage. Emotional narrative has found me.

MC Susan announces “Goldilocks,” and the little girls become extra excited. Goldilocks is classically emotional and the little girls know the tale. What will happen when Goldilocks is discovered? Rows of little girls wiggle and bounce in their seats. It doesn’t matter that the music has singing in German; throughout Goldilocks, faces fill with enchanted attention. The dance student with one front tooth missing just can't sit down. After the dance, the girls clap and bounce with joy.

At intermission, I speak with Mendy, Lexis, and Rylee. I learn the girls “particularly liked Goldilocks.” When asked what was the best part of Goldilocks, both girls answered in quick unison, “The table.” The table was Eric Tedder, 940’s male dancer, bent ninety degrees with a white tablecloth over him. Rigidly motionless while Goldilocks ate porridge, Mr. Tedder moved and transformed from the table into a door, then back to a table, delighting Lexis and Rylee. Mr. Tedder expertly mined the ability of children to easily imagine. Lexis and Rylee found the emotional narrative and sensual pleasure.

The show’s second part went well, with an audience now fully supportive and engaged.

During “Resilience,” a piece originating from a large multi-figure sculpture, I realize I cannot completely follow the grammar of modern dance, but 940 is lovely, elegant, and striking – a sensual pleasure.

“Elusive Memory” contains a wrenching portrayal of Alzheimer's destruction, and I am in rhythm with the emotional narrative. The evening has gone well, and now ends surprisingly with “Prismatica.”

The audience dons plastic-and-paper prismatic glasses that dissolve light into gradations of colors. There is total darkness except for lights on the dancer's bodies. The effect is interesting and stimulating – straightforward light pleasure actually – and I was not ready for the show to end.

In the lobby afterwards, I ask Michelle Wehkamp for her impression: “[The show] was a lot different from what we do. It was fun though.”

The members of 940 are in the lobby, and little girl-dancers are thrilled to meet professional dancers. Bella informs the 940 dancers, “You need to go “heel, toe; heel, toe.” When the Head Over Heels dancers take a souvenir photo with 940, Bella jumps up and down.

Resuming her role as Artistic Director, Susan Rieger tells me that 940’s “season is from September through April. We have been touring in September, but this is our first big concert.” You think this is big? “Yes, it is a nice space. Often we are in a cafeteria or something like that. Tomorrow we will perform in front of the new arts building in Greensburg.”

The Baker Arts Center did itself proud with 940, as did the other sponsors. The show was an artistic success because the audience did connect, did find its way to emotional narrative and sensual pleasure. The little girl-dancers had a profound and joyful encounter with art; so did the adults.

Note: H.G. Riter writes about religion and community events. Correspondence should be sent to hgriter@yahoo.com.