Modern Dance

My best friend in university did her degree in modern dance. We went to all sorts of shows together over those four years. I liked modern dance better than ballet or jazz because it got below the pretty, elegant surface of the art to explore darker themes. I saw the beautiful juxtaposed with the grotesque, elegance with awkwardness, peace with violence. The performances that moved me the most were the ones that disturbed me.

So when I saw that Marie Chouinard was coming through town I bought my ticket right away. I'd seen this company three times already over the past eight years. They're wicked.

The show was based on the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. The dancers first entered the stage wearing gold nipple pasties and making low moans. Soon after there was a full-on orgy involving fur hats and strap-ons, set to driving horn music. The dancers, male and female, remained nearly nude throughout the show. I was in the front row, very close to the naked action. I can't say that I felt comfortable, especially when the dancers made eye contact with the audience.

To show Orpheus and Eurydice's journey out of the underworld, Eurydice started climbing over the audience seats, creating a loud spectacle as she did it. Dancers on the stage implored the audience, "Don't look back! You there in the red glasses, I see you looking!" I found my urge to look back and watch the show hampered by my equal desire to avoid getting singled out in a room of hundreds of people.

The choreography itself was very strong, dynamic and well-performed, which kept the performance from crossing the line into gratuitous titillation. Two of the dancers, Lucie Mongrain and Carol Prieur, I have seen in the company's past performances. Each possesses a compelling personality. I couldn't look away from them whenever they were on the stage.

Since I've given up my regular trips to the Korean bath house, I've missed being around naked people. This show will have to tide me over.