"Addiction."
The arts and sciences, the movement and stillness, the rhythm of breath and step: on Saturday afternoon, all came together in the performance space at St. Paul and St. James Episcopal Church on Olive Street for Creative Circle, a delightful dance and music performance that saw two dance companies — the New Haven-based kamrDANCE and the New York-based SYREN Modern Dance — engage each other as well as the audience in their latest works in progress.
Every seat was filled for the hour-long event, which promised a glimpse into each company’s work in its early stages, discussion about the dance making process, and an improvised piece involving both companies as well as the audience.
The reaching out to community began immediately as Lynn Peterson, co-director of SYREN, came to the center of the space and asked everyone to free their hands, think about how they were sitting and where their feet were, and to be aware of their breath, which she called “an amazing gift.” She then led the audience in movements that saw them tapping their chests, reaching towards the ceiling, clapping, even adding in a “mini jam” of side-to-side movements “to the snacks, to the door.”
“Movement is meant to be shared,” Petersen added afterward with a big smile. Everyone else was now warmed up and smiling, too.
Kate Sutter, choreographer and co-director of SYREN, then joined Peterson along with dancers Jessica Nolan and Roxanne Potes to talk about their newest project.
“We’ve shared dance from Houston to Dubai, and New Haven is one of our favorites,” she added.
Sutter.
Their newest project involved the interaction between art and science, exploring quantum physics, time, and AI. As Sutter explained the four pillars of AI — artificial intelligence, consciousness, machine learning, and neural networks — Peterson, Nolan, and Potes then offered positions and movements for each, solo and in combinations of two and three. The audience was brought into the creation as they were asked what a non-sentient being might not be feeling. Answers like faith, guilt, passion, cleanliness, and community were given their own movements by the performers, more sweeping and freeing limbs being moved for passion and closer-to-body tactual movements happening for cleanliness.
Sutter then asked what would it be like to be a machine, to act as if you had no information and had to put words together “as if you didn’t know what words were.” The trio ended with a final piece that combined it all, using the entirety of the space as well as their bodies to give lush meaning to movement, to express with physicality in a way that heightened emotionality. The crowd responded with joy and enthusiasm. This reporter found herself teary eyed at the profound execution of it all. In that moment, no words were needed.
SYREN.
Alexis Robbins, director of kamrDANCE, came up next to speak about The Mercy Velvet Project, which she began working on in 2022. Based on the music of the band Mercy Velvet, a band from the 1990s that her father played drums in, Robbins explained how she grew up going to band rehearsals surrounded by “rock ‘n’ roll vibes.”
“It shaped the person that I am, the musician I am, the dancer I am,” she added.
The band made one nine-song album, Live in Vain, and for Saturday’s program two of the songs — “Addiction” and “Good Morning Babylon” — were performed by musical director Christie Echols on bass, Ellie Kim on guitar, Aster Rhys on vocals, and tap dancers Robbins, Megan Gessner, Isabella Serricella, and Maria Clara Laet. According to Robbins, by 2025 she is hoping to have a musical show featuring all nine songs.
Robbins.
“Addiction” began with a driving rhythm from the guitar and bass, the dancers adding percussion that built and built as the vocals joined in. The energy electrified the room, and audience members cheered them on (see for yourself in the video below). When they all stopped and came together as a group to speak the lyrics “don’t you know you’re not alone, you’re a part of humankind,” they restarted again to amp the energy up even higher, each performer getting a moment to shine solo yet supported with vigor by the group and the audience, ending with a full group stomp that shook the floor and the fans.
The second piece, “Good Morning Babylon,” saw the performers scattered around the room slowly walking toward each other and then away again in silence. Robbins then spoke: “Is it clear? Is there a clear view? I need to feel my feet where we’re going.”
The bass came in first, then the guitar, combining to form a moody liquid sound as the dancers began to move. Some balanced precariously, others laid down on the floor. Robbins spoke again: “Where are we going?”
The tempo of the music increased, the tapping began, and so did the singing. The music and the movement rocked out and rolled across the floor, the faces of the crowd sharing in the joy of the performers. They received a rousing standing ovation. Once again, this reporter found herself teary eyed. The emotionality and utter strength of the piece, and the entire afternoon, was almost overwhelming.
The groups came together to finish the event with a “short improv jam” that found them asking three volunteer members of the audience to offer a movement for the dancers to perform and emotions for the musicians to add in. Joy and excitement were offered, and it felt like we were all already there. The improv performance saw the volunteers joining in with all the others: two children and Rolanda Mitchell-Linton, who told me afterward she was a “retired dancer.”
All three as well as the performers looked to be having a blast as the room became abuzz with communal cheering. Peterson engaged the audience once again with the movements from the beginning of the program, bringing it all full circle, with deep breaths, soft beats, flowing arms, and most important, connection.
MItchell-Linton joins the group improv.
Karen Ponzio Photos
