Kaeja d’Dance presents Abattoir
March 25, 27-29 at Premiere Dance Theatre
By Leandra de Valois-Franklin
“Guts, liver, kidneys, heart…Oh, the beauty of the movement of flesh against the gleaming metal.” These words, recited by actor Aaron Willis as he dances in unison with the six other members of Kaeja d’Dance, accurately describe the theme of the company’s multi-disciplinary production Abattoir.
Inspired by co-artistic director Allen Kaeja’s childhood working at his father’s kosher butcher shop in Kitchener, the edgy work, which layers dance with new-opera, music, and theatre, explores human conditioning through the rite of passage of Jacob, a young boy learning the art of animal processing. Grisly groans initiated by Allen’s life partner Karen begin the show as bodies are revealed, emulating animals though intensely physical movement. The dancers violently hurl their slouching bodies to the ground and suspend one another upside down in the air using partners’ bodies like a butcher tool slicing through space.
The Kaeja’s signature style, which deconstructs the dictum of traditional partnering, is conceived through a combination of Allen’s background in wrestling and Karen’s roots in modern dance. The contradictory dynamics inherent in their cerebral and abstract work blends explosive athleticism with sensual, fluid lyricism to create a kinetic, androgynous movement vocabulary that conveys the rhythm and beauty of the slaughterhouse.
The work appears to be an authentic collaboration among all aspects of theatrical production. Patterns of light by designer Reolof Peter Snippe articulate a mysterious atmosphere, making the bare stage appear simultaneously stark and sanguine. The industrial score by composer Edgardo Moreno is layered with abstract vocals from new-opera artist Fides Krucker, text by Jason Sherman, and chanting of the dancers.
Although it contains enough gruesome imagery to make Hannibal Lecter convert to vegetarianism, Abattoir does not pass judgment upon the ethics of the production of meat, which can be at once cruel and beautiful. As an open metaphor for life, it reveals the deeper psychological impact of the person whose job it is to slaughter and the ways that person associates with or disassociates from the creature being killed. For Allen, a devout pescetarian, the abattoir instilled in him a deep respect for life.
Abattoir is a captivating addition to the Kaeja’s repertoire, which includes productions for the stage as well as award-winning dance films and educational and outreach programs. The work is accessible to wide audiences, and at just over an hour, it never felt too long. It just left me hungry for more.
