Wen Wei Dance and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre: trailblazing art and conventionality

 

Two dance shows that recently hit Vancouver prompted me to consider these questions, and I'm still thinking about them, but if it's dollars that matter, then apparently conventionality wins; however, I'm still doing to go out on a limb and argue the case for the work that trailblazes its way into new territory.

 

As far as local dance goes, Wen Wei Dance's aesthetically and emotionally evocative work makes it perhaps the most original and interesting choreography I've seen emerge from Vancouver.  Paired with the Beijing Modern Dance Company, choreographer Wen Wei Wang, alongside choreographer Gao Yanjinzi provided an evening of dance that was at times hypnotic, mesmerizing in its frequently abstract language of metaphor, that seemed to evolve from a deep, internal well of creativity, imagination and even spirituality.  

 

The first piece, titled "Journey to the East" and choreographed by Gao Yanjinzi in collaboration with the performers, was a lovely, if occasionally too literal, exploration of the meeting of these two groups of dancers from different continents and different companies.  With a soundtrack of the sound of water - rushing waves, quiet dripping - and the appearance of a screen between the two groups of dancers. Yanjinzi suggested the distance between the two groups, and the differences in the languages they speak.  Kept on opposite sides of the screen for much of the piece, the two companies both moved gracefully, slowly, as if in a dreamscape, before they finally met, the screen lifting away and the dancers creating a series of strong tableaus, as if integrating, becoming woven together in a common aesthetic.  Though I found this piece to be a bit obvious at times (East meets West), it was delicately wrought and originally choreographed, approaching its theme in a way that was beautiful, compelling and at times even mysterious.  I felt that there was an intelligence at play here that allowed what could have been an all too literal interpretation of an idea become subtle and rich in meaning and development. 

 

The second piece of the evening "In Transition" choreographed by Wen Wei Wang, was an entirely more abstract work that made fascinating use of choreography, video as well as lights and sound.  If  "Journey to the East" evoked two separate, but distinct worlds, "In Transition" suggested a world between places, perhaps an embryonic place where ideas still exist in impulses or fragments only, and the soundtrack moves between clarity and static, not yet sure of where to land.   The choreography in this work was original, articulate and at times worked at a speed that was remarkable, allowing the dancers to showcase their abundant agility and skill.  What I liked so much about this piece was that the dance seemed to take place on so many levels: that is the dancers moved not only to the soundtrack, but at times reacted to the lights - lying down as though slapped down by the intensity of lights - or incorporating the mood of the sometimes strange images in the video behind them into the dance.  In places this piece seemed frenzied, was repetitive and the music became industrial, but all the while, even when it seemed most raw, "In Transition" was beautifully choreographed and extremely skillfully danced.  It was a challenging piece in that it was not easily accessible or understood; it pushed the boundaries of familiarity and of recognizable dance vocabulary, and I felt that it was, in this way, a richly rewarding piece to witness. 

 

By contrast to the exhilarating evening of dance put on by Wen Wei Wang and the Beijing Modern Dance Company, I felt that the evening of dance presented by Alvin Ailey, courtesy of Ballet BC, was pretty, but conservative, palatable, as if being so iconic has limited this company's ability to take risks.  

 

Back in the days of the Black Power Movement and the Harlem Renaissance, Alvin Ailey's company was surely amongst a handful of maverick individuals and institutions that were creating art from a uniquely and unapologetically African American perspective.  And there is no doubting the tremendous importance and historical significance of this.  However, what struck me about this company was that it felt antiquated, more a well-preserved museum piece than a contemporary company whose work responds to today's social issues and represents our current reality. 

 

Of course, the dancers in Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre are excellent in their technical precision, but the choreography made me feel like I'd seen it all before.  There were a lot of perfectly executed arabesques, absolutely gorgeous jetés, dizzying series of pirouettes, but it all felt like so much showmanship, and so little emotional or spiritual or intellectual content.  In other words, I found the choreography to be beautiful but unmoving and unoriginal, and simply not very current.

 

In his germinal essay, "The Deadly Theatre", Peter Brooks writes of theatre that has "antiquarian interest" without "the vitality of new invention".  Brooks' view that deadly theatre is not only perfectly preserved, and therefore suspended out of time, it is also bland.  I am absolutely certain that the hundreds of audience members who filled The Queen Elizabeth Theatre and stood for long standing ovations after each piece will disagree with me when I say this, but I found Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre's performance to be so safe, so recognizable as to be utterly non-threatening and unchallenging, and therefore did little to further the cause of the arts in general, and African American arts in particular.  In fact, my most cynical thought was that perhaps what mostly white, middle-class audience members are equipped to handle in terms of African American (or Afro Canadian) art is a pretty picture of black people smiling, wearing colourful costumes and dancing vigorously to the sounds of southern gospel music.  And so this is what AAADT offers up and fills theatres to capacity with.  I don't know the answer to the question of whether or not AAADT is responsible, simply by virtue of its origins, to deal with contemporary issues (say, for example, the video I watched earlier in the day of police in Houston beating up a black teenager).  But even if they choose not to approach social issues, opting to re-present the past rather than create work that is aesthetically current seems like a bit of a deficit for this company that has within its ranks so much talent. 

 

Choreography that takes risks, that takes its viewer on some kind of challenging journey is not necessarily better than work that is safe.  But in the case of comparing AAADT's work to that of Wen Wei Dance and The Beijing Modern Dance Company, all have excellent dancers, superlative production values (lights, sound costumes etc.), and this uniformly outstanding level of skill allows me to say that, without question, I'll take the ride that leads me somewhere unknown, somewhere imaginative, somewhere that invites me to ask questions rather than the ride that reassures me and lulls me to sleep with its representation of iconic familiarity  that is so overproduced as to be symbolic.  

 

By the way, in case you're interested, you can buy the Alvin Ailey Barbie doll and own a piece of dance history. http://www.amazon.com/Barbie-Alvin-Ailey-American-Theater/dp/B001F92FOO