Above: Gina Ianni of TAKE Dance in the opening moments of SALARYMAN, Takehiro Ueyama's 2011 full-evening work, currently revived at Baruch College Performing Arts Center. Photo by Brian Krontz.
Saturday February 11, 2012 - Takehiro Ueyama's SALARYMAN played to a packed house at Baruch Performing Arts Center tonight, the final show in a four-performance run of this dramatic dancework. SALARYMAN was an outstanding dance event in 2011 and Take brought it back with a few changes for the Baruch series.
Although based on the lifestyle of contemporary Japanese businessmen, SALARYMAN has broader implications about the rat race, and about what is important in our lives; it's above striving for success but it's also about about passion, tenderness, loneliness and grief...with passages of dynamic pure dance (and a little cheap sex) thrown in for good measure. What puts the performance into the memorable category is the work of Take's tireless, dedicated dancers who literally hurl themselves into the concept while each displaying a unique and striking dance personality.
Earlier in the week, photographer Brian Krontz and I attended the dress rehearsal where Brian came up with some striking images of the production. I'm going to let his photos tell the story:
MORNING: to the ticking of a metronome, the dancers awaken under a vast sheet of white silk. The women rise is a lovely series of plastique movements like angels in a dream. Kristen Arnold, Gina Ianni and Lynda Senisi, above. Violinist Ana Milosavjavic quietly intones Handel's 'Ombra mai fu' from the sidelines.
Things then get a bit silly as the dancers are introduced in freeze-frames: Clinton Edward Martin, Brynt Beitman, Kile Hotchkiss and John Eirich, above.
Then all Hell breaks loose THE GAME, a brilliant and extended quartet for the four men.
To a pressing percussive rhythm, the guys leap, swirl and literally climb the walls. Above: Kile Hotchkiss. Pausing momentarily, they revv up their engines and take off again. This is life in the fast lane for the competitive corporate types. When they finally collapse, the audience goes berserk.
In RAIN, a reverie, the exquisite Nana Tsuda Misko appears walking alone.
John Eirich offers Nana his umbrella; she is momentarily attracted to him but then continues on her way, taking his umbrella with her. Nana reappears from time to time later in the work, a mysterious character aloof from the madness around her.
ON THE WAY: the daily commute begins as the working class head for the office.
TRAIN: a droll commentary on our behavior during a long trek on public transportation.
The train gets crowded, everyone squeezes together. Beware of groping!
Nana Tsuda Misko passes by again, reminding us of a peaceful existence outside the daily grind.
RED LIGHT: The men have stopped at a bordello after hours to ease the stress of a long workday. Here they are tempted by images of Eve and her seductive apple. In this number, the classic tune "I've Got You Under My Skin" makes a truly witty statement.
Meanwhile, a lonely housewife (Jill Echo, above) waits at home...
...the apple that she offers to passersby fails to works its magic. Jill's solo is entitled MISSING.
I'M WORRIED NOW BUT I WON'T BE WORRIED LONG: In a harrowing climax to the evening's first half, Takehiro Ueyama is ritually baptised before embarking on a tense and desperate solo: this is a man who can no longer cope with the demands of his life.
He finds his only way out as the light fades...
...his death is mourned. but only briefly.
BREAKING NEWS: Kristen Arnold (above) opens the evening's second half making semaphoric gestures in a pool of light.
The dancers rush about, frantically devouring the daily news...
...and occassionally bumping into one another (Kile Hotchkiss and Marie Zvosec above).
SILENCE: A film of John Eirich and Kile Hotchkiss underwater in their shirts and trousers provides an unusually tranquil interlude.
SLOW BALLAD: a charmingly innocent duet for Gina Ianni and John Eirich gets interrupted as Clinton Edward Martin flies overhead.
In KIMOCHI E ('I Feel Good!') the dancers cut loose with some groovy moves (Kristen Arnold, above).
At the WHISPERING WALL, Kile Hotchkiss and Kristen Arnold commence a darkly radiant pas de deux...
...while Nana passes Takehiro's wandering ghost. Perhaps all along she has been an angel of death.
Ana Milosavjevic's playing gently underscores the feel of evening setting in.
The dancers (Brynt and Gina, above) perform a communal ritual of sharing water...
...as SALARYMAN draws to its enigmatic conclusion.
All photographs by Brian Krontz, with my thanks to him. A gallery of more of Brian's SALARYMAN images appears here.
