Thirty-one years ago, choreographer Garth Fagan created the dance company that bears his name. Since then, he has worked as a professor at the State University of New York and choreographed the Broadway rendition of The Lion King. Yet even with this schedule, he makes a point of attending every show that his company puts on - an unusual feat for a world-famous choreographer. At the same time, Fagan fosters an independence within the dancers, making their movements feel like spontaneous creations rather than carefully-planned sequences, with motions thought up only moments before.
Garth Fagan Dance performed this past weekend at the Emerson Majestic Theatre, a beautiful remnant of art-deco architecture. The elegance of the ornate columns was a perfect counterpoint to the dancers' natural grace. This effect was seen especially well in In Memoriam: The Innocent, The Brave, The Hands, The Minds...All Mankind a dance dedicated to the victims and survivors of Sept. 11.
Instead of taking the path that many have chosen, and reliving the sorrow and ache of the terrorist attacks, Fagan chooses to express life's inherent beauty. The dancers are clad in pastel blues and greens and softly lit with similar colors. Their loose, billowy clothing fits perfectly with their smooth, organic motions. The piece flows smoothly, and the overall effect is one of immense calmness. Watching In Memoriam is like bathing in a fresh spring pool - it makes you feel completely refreshed, with an entirely new outlook on life.
Fagan shows his influences marvelously well, without conforming to any one stereotype. He clearly enjoys a very structured stage presence, without appearing to have done so methodically. The dancers are often arranged in easily recognizable geometric patterns, very similar to those employed in ballet. Unlike ballet, however, the dancers all have a personal freedom that makes the audience recognize each of them as a unique individual.
In the most intimate piece performed, titled "Come Forever," dancers Norwood Pennewell and Natalie Rogers drew in the audience with their touching romance. It is lighthearted and amusing, but treats the issue of love with a seriousness that brings it home for the audience. At times this is almost comedic, eliciting laughs from those watching with its clever sexual metaphors; yet in the end it shows the lasting power of true love. It also serves to illustrate a point later reiterated by dancer Bill Ferguson: "he [Garth Fagan] knows the power of having the dancers connect with audience." This is just as key in dance as in any art - the viewer will not enjoy himself unless he can sympathize with the events occurring. There needs to be real human interaction.
Throughout the performance, Fagan's choreography toys with the divide between the sexes. While not necessarily employing stereotypes, he makes sure the audience recognizes the differences between male and female. The men dress differently than the women, wearing pants and collared shirts instead of dresses. In "Music of the Line/Words of the Shape," the stage is first occupied by women. When the men come on, the tempo and the style dance change. No overt comments are made, other than to show that there are irrefutable dissimilarities. It is an interesting stance, as many choreographers attempt to blur the line between what defines a man and what defines a woman.
Fagan makes no attempt to steal the praise of the audience away from the dancers in his brief appearance at the end of the show. Instead, he simply takes a bow and exits, surrounded by thunderous applause.
Overall, Garth Fagan Dance put on a masterful performance, and anyone who would like to witness ground-breaking modern dance should go experience it. Uninitiated viewers beware - this is real art, and not something to be taken lightly. The allusions are at times deeply buried within complex metaphors. Anyone who does not have some familiarity with dance other than The Nutcracker should bring a friend who does, or you may miss many important aspects of the performance. But it must be said that, like listening to a film in a language one does not understand, there is still great beauty, even if you don't not understand the presentation word for word.
