”True Colors” may be performed by high school students, but it would be a mistake to underestimate these kids.
The performance was the second of three shows in the Wild Dancing West Festival, an exhibition of local contemporary dance performances. ”True Colors” was the collaborative effort of two dance programs, the Contemporary Dance Ensemble from the Public Academy of Performing Arts, and Oxygen Dance, an independent studio.
There was no theme to string each number together in “True Colors,” and because of this there are a few confusing numbers.
Without a concrete narrative assigned to the show, or even the individual numbers, it was like watching a human manifestation of the soundtrack from “Fantasia.”
The show began with something reminiscent of a warm-up session for a sassy musical production. Live percussion accompanied the dancers and moved with them throughout the show, each beat bumping their limbs appropriately and always with grace.
The succeeding numbers follow a sort of narrative not linked in context, but they shared a certain dramatic sense of emotion. Two lone dancers undulating in movements like two leaves caught in a breeze, colliding and blowing apart. A gaggle of girls in warm, earthy tones reveal intimate glimpses of their relationships with each other with close, gentle movements. It felt as if they offered a taste of their lives, each vignette divulging a distinct and powerful emotion.
For the most part, each piece displayed this same sense of connection the dancers had to the movement and music, each capable of commanding the audience’s attention by inspiring empathy. It was natural to be drawn in and feel a connection.
It was these pieces that evoked excitement for these young people at the beginning of the journey that is life. Combined with epic instrumentals, it was the feeling you get when you experience something profoundly beautiful but so simple at the same time.
The dancers then left the stage, as did the life that had filled the small space. A video projection of a dance number, filmed at what appeared to be White Sands, appeared downstage. This was the first stump I tripped on. Maybe it was because I couldn’t feel their energy, or perhaps it was because they likely didn’t have music on location to inspire their movement, but it fell flat.
The music clashed with their movements for the most part, and I was uninspired by the location and the absence of visible facial expression. It was almost comical, like I was watching them on a reality show as they confronted irrelevant challenges, such as dancing in dunes, to prove themselves graceful enough for any context.
Thankfully, the rest of the show stuck to live dance. The pieces that followed dove into murkier emotional depths, accented by shadowy lighting as the dancers drew me down into their psyches.
My favorite was “Meta,” performed solo by Rachel Neitzke to a gravelly string accompaniment. Her movements were almost animalistic in their ferocity. Even so, she never lost her femininity. ‘Juxtaposed’ had a similar mood, though executed by a gaggle rather that a lone reed, like a pack of lionesses hunting at dawn.
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This was the penultimate number, though it should’ve been the conclusion. I would have opted to leave out the piece “3” or at least the experimental video backdrop.
The catchy electronica and robot-inspired choreography joined in a union that felt very sci-fi. In this respect, I can see why someone may have thought the video backdrop worked. However, it did a great disservice to the dancers, as I spent half the time watching the film.
For those of you that missed “True Colors,” there’s one more performance in the Wild Dancing West Festival, a multimedia collaboration called “RE-FORM.”
