Wednesday May 18, 2011 - Several choreographers are presenting evening-length danceworks this season. Larry Keigwin gave us EXIT; Nai-Ni Chen's dreamlike DRAGONS ON THE WALL premiered this past week. INTO SUNLIGHT by Robin Becker has been performed at the University of Wisconsin and Hofstra and will soon be given at the 92nd Street Y; Jennifer Muller/The Works present THE WHITE ROOM at Cedar Lake in June. And now Takehiro Ueyama and TAKE Dance have given us SALARYMAN.
Presenting a single long work is a challenge; to be honest, having seen parts of SALARYMAN in the studio, I wasn't sure Take could pull it off. The various segments that I saw in rehearsal seemed a bit random and I could not grasp a sense of overall structure. When I learned that the completed work was 90 minutes long and would include an intermission, I thought maybe Take was going off the deep end.
Watching the dress rehearsal with photographer Matt Murphy and then watching the opening night performance (later on the same day) with Kokyat, I immediately saw that Take and his dancers had drawn the diverse elements into a cohesive whole: SALARYMAN is a hit.
The following are stereotypical images of the salaryman, a term originally developed to describe white collar workers in Japanese society:
- Lifestyle revolves entirely around work at the office.
- Works over-time on a daily basis.
- Diligent but unoriginal.
- Thoroughly obedient to orders from the higher levels of the company.
- Feels a strong emotional bond with co-workers.
- Drinking, golf and mahjong are the three main social activities that provide stimulation outside of work.
- Lack of initiative and competitiveness.
- Wears a suit, necktie, and dress shoes to work every day without fail.
- Late night karaoke and binge-drinking.
Take Ueyama's SALARYMAN is a series of vignettes in which many of the attributes listed above are depicted in a handsomely lit and powerfully danced presentation; it is set to a variety of musical excerpts that weave into a story of the rat race of modern-day life. The inspiration may come from Japan but the images are universal.
The relentless ticking of a metronome marks the opening of SALARYMAN with the dancers slumbering under a vast sheet of fabric. Awakening, the women perform a stylized geisha-like pantomime in which they bend and sway in the gown-like fabric as violinist Ana Milosavljevic quietly intones the gentle melody of Handel's "Ombra mai fu". Greeting the dawn, the dancers are introduced in a series of freeze-frames which emerge from under the billowing cloth.
This gives way to the work's most stunning passage, a long quartet for the Company's men danced to Soul's Ville by AUN. In suits and ties, the four boys move in non-stop leaps, falls and swirling partnering motifs as the percussive sounds push them harder and harder. The notion "I am running as fast as I can just to stay in place" comes to mind; at one point the guys are literally climbing the walls. John Eirich, Kile Hotchkiss, Clinton Edward Martin and Kei Tsuruharatani flung themselves heedlessly into this exhausting piece, causing the audience to erupt in whooping applause as they collapsed at the end.
Men's quartet: Kei, Kile, John and Clinton.
The delicate beauty of Nana Tsuda Misko is always a joy to experience in Take's works. Here her meditative stroll is interrupted by a sudden rain shower. A young salaryman (Kei Tsuruharatani) shyly offers his umbrella. He courts her but she evades him and takes his umbrella with her as she drifts away. Kei, as brilliant an actor as he is dancer, is left to puzzle over his loss.
The dancers begin the frantic rush to work: toting briefcases and large purses they head for the subway where the cliches of sharing public transportation - reading over someone's shoulder, falling asleep on your neighbor, accidental or intentional groping - are portrayed with droll expressions from the dancers.
The four salarymen hit a bordello to ease their stress after a long day at the office. The girls in filmy red tunics shimmy suggestively to "I've Got You Under My Skin" and the boys drop their trousers. Red apples of temptation are produced and the men wind up seduced and abandoned. Meanwhile, waiting at home for her salaryman-husband, the lonely housewife (Jill Echo) offers her own red apple to the passing men but there are no takers.
Take Ueyama's solo is danced in suit and tie on a stage criss-crossed by paths of light. At the start, Take is baptized or cleansed by water, then he erupts in a violent dance seeking a way out of his problems and a release from the pressures of his life. He ends by strangling himself with his tie; the dancers cover his body with the vast shroud as the light fades.
Death of a businessman by suicide: John Eirich, Takehiro Ueyama.
Back to a frantic pace for the opening of the second half as the dancers rush about the stage reading newspapers. A white curtain is drawn open and a gorgeous blue-lit underwater film of dancers John Eirich and Kile Hotchkiss in black pants and white shirts is shown (see photo at the top of this article).
John Eirich and Gina Ianni dance a playful duet of youthful tenderness before the entire ensemble leap into action for a romping and stomping interlude (I Feel Good) in which individual solos are highlighted. John Eirich and Kristen Arnold sustain a remarkable kiss.
The mood turns somber again as Jill Echo approaches the Whispering Wall; each dancer in turn comes to meditate as twilight approaches. Bearing water in transparent cubes, the dancers meet and share in a communion-like ritual. As the light fades, the men step into the shallow water. Night falls. But tomorrow the race will start again.
The dancers of TAKE Dance are Kristen Arnold, Jill Echo, John Eirich, Kile Hotchkiss, Gina Ianni, Clinton Edward Martin, Nana Tsuda Misko, Lynda Senisi, Kei Tsuruharatani, Marie Zvosec and Takehiro Ueyama. Jason Jeuenette's lighting was a great asset to the success of the evening as was Ana Milosavljevic's violin.
The audience gave the performance a spontaneous standing ovation and the dancers bowed repeatedly. Wonderful to see Amy Marshall, Christina Ilisije, Alison Cook Beatty and Sophie Bromberg there, plus a set of Paul Taylor luminaries: Karla Wolfangle, Julie Tice, Amy Young and Robert Kleinendorst.
The snapshots above are from my Lumix.
Matt Murphy photographed the dress rehearsal; a gallery of his images will be found here.
