Review by Jess Ruhlin
Read the full article on Bodies Never Lie
The past memorial day weekend saw the 9th annual “Spring to Dance Festival” at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. Over the course of three evenings, 30 companies presented pieces of various genres to the St. Louis audiences. The Festival is an indulgent presentation where dance lovers can not only see and compare the dancers and work from other parts of the country but identify the trends that continually evolve the form of dance, therefore taking part in both the rich traditions and the creativity that breaks from it.
Saturday, May 28th
Second was Thodos Dance Chicago in Artistic Director, Melissa Thodos’, “Near Light.” Similar in appearance to Madco, the stage picture was atmospheric and dark with the five men in dark pants with light shirts, the five women in vaguely transparent skirts with dark tight tops. The piece paid tribute to the process of loss and healing, described in the program as ’emotional and sensitive.” Comprised mainly of intricate partnering, the work was visually stunning, architectural in staging and flawlessly danced. Each performer was fluid and strong, the women stretching beautiful legs in high developpes, the men lifting them and one solo male without slip. However, these things tended to happen on predictable moments of the Olafur Arnalds score – a battment on the drum beat, a soft allonge during a sustained note on the strings. When I was in college, my improvisation teacher refused to let the class use music from the soundtrack ‘Requiem for a Dream’ as inspiration because she said it was too emotional, predictable, it ‘dictated in the music how and when we should move’. “Near Light”, while still beautiful to watch for the structure and dancing, seemed to suffer this same musical dictatorship.