Summation Dance Company closed a brief run of Keep Your Feather Dry at the Baryshnikov Arts Center on Saturday, February 5th. This World Premiere was choreographed by Sumi Clements and produced by Taryn Vander Hoop, the company’s founders. Keep Your Feathers Dry chronicles Ms. Clements very personal story of her boyfriend’s reactivation into the Marine Corps and his subsequent deployment to Afghanistan. The piece consisted of three smaller thematic works, “Fortitudine”, “Whac-a-Mole” and “No Man’s Landing”.
I enjoy physicality in dance, so I was very excited to check out a company who prides themselves on highly physical work. I was also pretty excited to check out Clements’ and Vander Hoop’s cast. Their dancers looked non-traditional at best. Less willowy and more athletic, I looked forward to the strong force they would convey on stage.
When I review a thematic (as opposed to a narrative) dance piece, I try not to read the program or the press packet until after the show is over. If I can’t figure out the choreographer’s intentions without supplements, then there might be a problem in the storytelling. With Keep Your Feathers Dry, I found that there were several points that confused me and muddied Clements’ intentions. Why was everything on one level? (There were no jumps, leaps, etc…) Where was the physicality? It felt tedious and dull. The monotony carried through into the tech and lighting of the performance as well. The three pieces melded into mush. I didn’t even know there were three pieces until I read the program.
Storytelling elements were also dropped (never to be seen again). “Fortitudine” began with extremely dynamic vocals. They were used one more time in the piece and then never used again. If you have a tool that’s strong and effective, why wouldn’t you use in multiple ways to convey feeling or purpose? The acting wasn’t consistent amongst the dancers as well. Overall, I felt like the really poignant points of Clements’ intentions were lost amongst the flatness. I wish I could have seen more.
If dance isn’t experimental, it’s not doing its job. I sincerely give Summation credit for attempting to accomplish what they did in Keep Your Feathers Dry. Did it fall short for me? Yes. However, I rather see something shoot for the moon and fail than travel a well-worn (i.e. “boring”) path. Check out what Summation has on the calendar for 2011 at www.summationdance.org.
