Me, Myself and Me

Company:   Urban Outcast Dance Company

Choreographer:   Herschel Jackson Jr.

Performers:   Justin Dubell, Herschel Jackson Jr., Paola Ramirez

The costumes here are clearly the star of the show. When the lights came up, the costumes made for an immediate WOW factor. The red, flowing tunics, the hoods and face wraps – this was some crazy Arab-Ninja-Dune-Jedi stuff that grabbed and held our attention.

The dance itself was less compelling. There were few interactions between the dancers. The piece seemed to be constructed more around creating symmetrical figures and movements, using the space to constantly adjust the relationship of the dancers to each other. It was energetic, and the movement and music were very simpatico, but overall it just didn’t live up to the expectations created by that dramatic opening presentation.

A couple issues kept nagging at me. The costumes didn’t seem to be connected to the dance. They made the dancers more interesting to look at but didn’t seem to be integrated into a story line or some aspect of the choreography that couldn’t be accomplished without them. They were terrific, but I instinctively wanted them to be somehow necessary. It felt like there was some high drama going to waste.

The size difference in the dancers was hard to overlook. Principal dancer, Herschel Jackson, towered over the other two company members. This meant you couldn’t arbitrarily mix and match the dancers on stage. With only three dancers, he was always going to pull focus. I think this challenge could also be an opportunity. You can’t hide an outsized dancer in an ensemble, but that same visual discrepancy can be an ideal mechanism for creating tension and contrast in the choreography. It will be interesting to see if they can use that to their advantage in the future.

I don’t know their history, but it feels like early days for this company. Certainly there is potential here that isn’t quite being realized, particularly given Herschel’s design talent. These costumes were easily the most creative in this entire dance program.

Viewed Re/Viewed