Friday, October 12, 2012
Theater Brutality in Belonging: Political Mother at BAM
Posted by Audrey Lane Ellis on Fri, Oct 12, 2012 at 12:20 PM
The theater is suspended in fog as the piece opens; distant music is followed by a sort of title page. The words "Political Mother" appear, as does a single warrior who unsheathes his sword. As quickly as we are ushered into this tall tale, the tableau is interrupted by a rock bomb, musicians in their own spotlights, alone with their electric guitar or drum. These scenes flash against a few duets and solos, but mostly group dance-work in which a repeated vocabulary of movement is established. Dancers brilliantly flock in and out of dance-language that both stings and sings; a large emotional range is accomplished within a small, specific framework.
The dancing acts as a workload of full-bodied gesture, both being carried and carrying the movers throughout the piece. Folk dance teems on the edge of full-fledged rock spasms, the rhythmic steps accelerating. At times scampering and dumb, the dancers move with hunched backs and shuffling feet, and yet seamlessly turn these possessed and almost comical twitches of the body into more virtuosic articulations. They become dancing flames, rippling from their cores to full surrender, arms suspended in the air. The group arranges in patterns across the stage, mapping a road which all veer from but are ultimately assigned to. As the work nears an end you fear the resolution, you fear no resolution; however, several surprise elements leave you with a strange acceptance.
These dialed-up theatrics—loud music, fervent dancing and epic lighting—create a sensationalism that is both silly and sincere. The dancers become both worshipers and warriors, acting against and as part of a theater of politics. Israeli-born and UK-based, Schecter first began his dance career with Batsheva Dance Company in Tel Aviv and began his showing his own work in the UK by 2003. As a former rocker himself, he also contributed to the score. The strong rhythms that pulse through the work challenge us to hear music through noise, to see people through bodies, to survive some sort of necessary violence. Schecter succeeds in depicting this brutality in belonging.
The Hofesh Schecter Company performs Political Mother tonight and tomorrow at BAM. More info here.
Full disclosure: The L Magazine publishes the programs for BAM.
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