Photograph by Boja Vasic.
DISPLACEMENT
Choreographed by Robert Glumbek
Visual Artist Vessna Perunovich
Composed by Christos Hatzis
November 18-21 @ Fleck Dance Theatre
By Gabrielle Charron-Merritt
The idea of displacement is easy to grasp, but it is hard to imagine such experiences, because it forces us to (re)live moments filled with uncertainty, helplessness, and prolonged pain. Watching Displacement was a sensitive experience; the small ensemble of seven skilled dancers morph into different emotional representations of displacement, while the video installation and music move, ever-changing, for much of the 62-minute piece.
Displacement is a multimedia piece presented by Vitek Wincza, artistic director of the Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts Dance Theatre. Composer Christos Hatzis provided two compositions, The String Quartet No. 1 (The Awakening) and The String Quartet No. 2 (The Gathering), as the score. Visual artist Vessna Perunovich’s artwork came from past installations and performance art pieces. Although both music and art had been created some years back and are being reused for this current production, the original choreography by Robert Glumbek synthesizes the three art forms, resulting in a performance that connects the artists’ ideas in a renewed and relevant way.
The dancer’s simple, layered white and off-white costumes provide anonymity, while still reflecting individuality, as each costume is made with geometrical differences. The stage seems bare with a transparent rubber band-walled house on one side and a tall, one-wall intricate rubber band and staple fence on the other, standing lonesome and barring access only to those who step behind it. The middle of the stage is left bare for the cluster of choreographies that succeed in an unexpected matter.
In the beginning, dancers carry a “heavy” load of balloons, blended with sped-up scenes of railroad tracks and the chugging of a manipulated train and Inuit throat-singing tracks, which the Penderecki String Quartet respond to with buzzing harmonies. Robert Glumbek takes the stage in a solo dance which fuels the rest of the evening. He is a traveller, an immigrant, as he engages a close relationship with a suitcase and the train tracks continue their dizzying paths through a multitude of global landscapes. Sometimes we are left with Glumbek on his own. Although a mature dancer, he maintains the ability to control his body as he defiantly fall backwards onto the floor. The other dancers begin to emerge and join in various dances, which showcase different combinations, from solo to full chorus. Each choreography interacts with different artworks by Vessna Perunovich.
A reccurring work are the red elastic bands previously used in Perunovich’s performance art piece Transitory Places. They are used by the dancers in a clever series of choreographies; at times, they act as harnesses which effectively keeps the dancers from falling, at other times, they are violently tugged at, causing the dancers to fall in frustration. The idea of travelling as a component of displacement is also apparent in Christos Hatzis’s music, which is inspired by many cultures, in what Hatzis describes as a “trans-national, trans-dogmatic view of the world and its inhabitants.”
Displacement does not portray any one culture; rather, it is a poignant reminiscence of the struggles humans once faced and a reminder of the struggles to come.
