Dance Review: Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, JOURNEY TO A NEW WORLD

As the Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet performs Orbo Novo, meaning “New World”, that is exactly what they discovered this weekend! No longer a stranger to any theatre but their own, Cedar Lake explodes upon new territory, infiltrating The Joyce Theater like the European explorers for which their work is named!

Orbo Novo is an absolutely stunning, fascinating piece of artistry in every way. If Cedar Lake really does journey to a new world, the choreography, sets, dancers, and sound are the elements they need for their journey. Not one element goes underused, and the journey to the New World could not have been made without every tiny, immortal detail.

The Set- (THE SHIP)

Walking into The Joyce Theater, the set is masterfully laid out in front of you before anything even begins. A towering 12-foot high wall of movable, interconnecting grids, created by Alexander Dodge, creates the animalistic, harsh realities we all face as social, emotional, and physical beings. The connecting grids force the dancers to question the ideas of individuality and the ways we connect with the world around us. At times it resembles a giant cage, trapping the dancers inside like birds. At other times it is a defense mechanism, and even further a means of play for fun discoveries. One thing is true, these dancers are NOT afraid of heights! At any moment, a dancer could’ve tumbled to the floor…but noooo, not Cedar Lake. They are fearless, calculated perfection.

The Choreographer– (THE CAPTAIN)

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, the Belgian choreographer who has taken home many awards internationally, leads the troupe fearlessly into uncharted terrain. He has these dancers all over the place like wild monkeys, (birds, dinosaurs, squirrels, clouds, Olympic gymnasts, autumn leaves caught in a tornado)… You name it -the imagery is there. The movement is so seamless and fluid that it is impossible to discern where one movement stops and another begins. Are the dancers in charge of the movement, or is the movement in charge of the dancers? Some stunts are just completely inhuman….( a male duo where they convulse intensely in seizure-like tremors)! Some stunts leave me unsure whether to commend the choreographer’s imagination or the dancers’ outrageous skills!

The Sound- (THE SEA)

The musical score, created by composer Szymon Broska, oozes out from the back of the stage as we dimly see the strings and piano. The music often is beautifully liquid and builds from one instrument to the entire sound system, capturing the dancers’ turbulent energy and taking them where they need to go. The score is literally like an ocean current, hurling the dancers from scene to scene. For a portion of the show, the dancers make their own music as they recite entire monologues from the book ”My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey.” The dancers SPEAK the words in PERFECTLY rehearsed unison, yet insanely natural sounding, as if they are saying this all for the first time… making the dance more of a sign language session than a dance. At points, everyone is lip-syncing, except one dancer who is actually speaking. We, the audience, can’t tell who is actually doing the speaking! It is truly awesome to watch. The speech deals with how our brains have two sides and how our relationship between the two hemispheres make us who we are.

The Dancers- (THE CREW)

The 16 dancers come from all over the globe and many of them boast professional ballet credits and are now living here in our city. Lucky for Cedar Lake! The mix of ethnicities is absolutely breathtaking and every dancer is such an individual, sharing one common thread – being the most ABLE, pliable, flexible, strong, relatable contemporary dancers out there! They portray the determination and intelligence (Imagine memorizing a 15 minute monologue AND dancing!) needed to make Orbo Novo completely surreal.

Finally, after what seems to be a too-short show, Cedar Lake flawlessly steers itself and the world of contemporary dance to new fascinating heights, quite literally. I can’t wait to see what artistic director Benoit-Swan Pouffer comes up with next for this fearless company.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Sheena DiMatteo
Performance: Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet
Venue: The Joyce Theater, New York City
Choreographer: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
Date: October 23, 2009
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