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UCLA professor and renowned modern-dance choreographer Victoria Marks said dance can be found in the simplest functions of the human body.
“I don’t view dancing as a special domain of human activity; I think the minute that you inhale and notice yourself inhaling, you can also be dancing,” Marks said. “The minute you raise your hand to say goodbye, and you notice yourself doing that, then you’re dancing.”
Marks and UNM’s Head of Dance, Donna Jewell, will each present original work in the seventh annual Wild Dancing West. The festival is held during three weekends and showcases the works of contemporary choreographers who live in the Western United States.
Each weekend focuses on a different choreographer.
Wild Dancing West’s marketing director Susanna Kearny said this year’s performances capture the experimental side of modern dance.
“Contemporary dance is one of the most visual kinds of dance and the most immediate with the body,” Kearny said. “A lot of contemporary work you can extract meaning from … it’s not necessarily set like most traditional sets of dance and art, where there’s that expectation and story line.”
Marks presents a series of short conceptual films that she choreographed alongside two new live performances. Her films “Not About Iraq,” “Veterans,” “Mothers and Daughters” and “Men” each stress the image presented in the choreography as opposed to a narrative, Marks said. While “Not About Iraq” and “Mothers and Daughters” feature performers, she said “Veterans” and “Men” star people who don’t consider themselves to be performers. Marks said she started making “Men” knowing only that she wanted to incorporate elderly men from the Canadian Rockies. From there, she focused on capturing movement.
“Making a dance is a little bit like writing poetry, except your medium is not words but action,” she said.
Jewell will present and direct “The Tale of Natali,” an original contemporary dance piece that compares and contrasts reality and fairy tales. Jewell said “The Tale of Natali” is more experimental than her work at UNM, drawing influence from her work in dance companies across New Mexico and in Austria. She said the performance will be marked by bright colors and breaking of the fourth wall by interacting with the audience, while still maintaining the show’s darker theme: dealing with a catastrophic event.
“I’m really exploring the moment where somebody comes to an edge, like the edge of a cliff, and they have to decide whether to go forward or backward,” Jewell said. “If you’re in your comfort zone your whole life, if you don’t challenge yourself or face something kind of painful, you’ll pretty much stay the same.”
Jewell composed the piece with the show’s five performers, Natali Radelic, Vladimir Conde Reche, Avalon Jay, Dodie Montgomery and Lisa Nevada. Jewell said that while they each drew upon their own personal struggles, the show is not driven by any single moment or narrative. She said abstract dance often becomes more personal because people can derive their own meaning from it.
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“The more abstract the work is, you begin to find your own story. It’s your story, as opposed to me telling you the story,” she said. “If I keep it more abstract … you may think ‘Oh, that looks like the relationship I have with my best friend, that duet right there.’ I’m trying to keep this piece open enough and abstract enough so it still has that fantasy, magical quality and to allow the audience to make their own decision.”
Wild Dancing West
North Fourth Arts Center
4904 Fourth St. N.W.
“An Evening of Film and Dance”
June 1 and 2, 8 p.m. Choreography and movement direction by Victoria Marks; photography, editing and film direction by Margaret Williams
$15 general admission; $10 students/seniors
“The Tale of Natali”
June 8 and 9, 8 p.m. Choreographed by Donna Jewell
$15 general admission; $10 students/seniors
