Confrontation: Yukari Osaka as the Wolf-Mother and Barry Kerollis as Harris David in MAAN SINGH (The Wolf-Child)
Friday August 9, 2013 - Choreographer Chris Rudd invited me to a run-thru of MAAN SINGH (The Wolf-Child), a dance-drama in which he collaborates with composer Adam Levowitz. Still in its formative stages, enough of the piece (about 20 minutes) was presented to an invited audience today to have a good feeling for what the finished work will be like. The showing took place at the Gelsey Kirkland Studios.
Mr. Levowitz's score is tuneful and rhythmically diverse, and he draws upon the melody of an old Indian lullabye for this (true) tale of a baby boy stolen and raised in the jungle by a pack of wolves. Five years after the abduction, the child was "rescued" from the wolves by Harris Fulton David, the father of author Pam Malik, and brought back to civilization. The boy "...walked on all-fours, howled at the moon, ate like an animal and wore no clothing..." Ms. Malik was present for today's showing, commending the creators and dancers for having expressed her story so persuasively.
Chris Rudd's choreography tells the story clearly; in fact, we were initially shown a run-thru with no prior introduction to the background of the piece and it all made perfect sense. A second running gave us a chance to focus on individual dancers.
I have to say, candidly, I was rooting for the wolves the whole time. The Wolf-Mother, as portrayed by Yukari Osaka (above, in slumber), resonated as a character of strength and tenderness. The situation reminded me of something a friend of mine - who had been abandoned by her mother in infancy - once told me: "The bond is strongest with the mother who raises you...stronger than any blood tie."
The relationship between the Wolf-Mother and the boy (portrayed by Ruben Suarez, above) was the moving centerpiece of the work; the Wolf-Mother's death at the hands of the rescue party caused the boy to literally howl in despair.
Holly Curran, a dancer familiar to me thru her lovely work with Miro Magloire's New Chamber Ballet, created a convincing portrait of a woman who awakens from a nap to find that her child has been taken.
Barry Kerollis, formerly of Pacific Northwest Ballet, appeared as the rescuer Harris David. Chris Rudd gave Barry some virtuosic movement passages which were delivered with aplomb.
Here are some additional images from the showing:
The wolf pack
Jeff Sykes and Ilir Shtylla of the rescue party
Connie Sousek as Sweeta
Holly Curran
Barry Kerollis
George Sanders...
...and Oshi Wanigasekera were among the wolves
Instinct
Under attack
Lament
Borne back to civilization