Company: CaZo Dance Company
Choreographer: Bridgette Borzillo with Dominque Bailey, Laura Belvado, Malikah Fernandez, Rachael Haug, Martha Patty Hernandez, Jamie Larkin
Pre-Show Performers: Briana Bryant, Bria Counterman, Giovanni Duran, Amie Faulkner, Jamie Larkin
Bloody Mary Performers: Rebecca Reeder, Laura Belvado, Malikah Fernandez, Kelsey Kroll, Megan Ayers, Keanna Agustin, Dominque Bailey, Briana Bryant, Leo Caudillo, Amie Faulkner, Giovanni Duran, Brayan Perez, Ally McSpadden, Rachel Haug, Julia Goraj-Navarro, Brandon Farrer, Nadia Gomez
Bloody Mary is a dark, sprawling, ambitious fable, played out by CaZo’s full dance company in no fewer than nineteen movements. It’s not the Halloween Nutcracker, but it represents the potential for even a relatively young company like CaZo to engage their creative vision at the highest level and swing for the bleachers.
This penchant for ambition carried over to their young apprentice company that performed a pre-show program consisting of at least thirteen movements – and I may have lost count. Sagely, it was built with thematic elements, including the ninja-like evil minions, that were consistent with the main program. It was anchored by dancer/singer Bria Counterman, who was a bright little light on stage. Her pure a capella singing voice and expressive demeanor were equally capable of elucidating the playful nuances of a child’s nursery rhyme and then turning it into something unexpectedly dark. This opening program was an unannounced surprise. It gave the pre-professional company valuable performance experience and, while it was simple, it was still legitimately entertaining. It was a welcome pastime for an audience still getting settled and a fitting prequel to the darkly imaginative world of Bloody Mary.
The scope of Bloody Mary is little short amazing. Nineteen (count ’em – 19) movements in the service of the same story. As impressive as the breadth of this narrative is, that same complexity is also inherently problematic – but that’s a longer discussion. First, let me sing some well-deserved praises.
I can’t say enough about the importance to the audience of the dancers’ emotional connection with their movement. We see it all – the slyest little smile projects to the balcony. It’s absence is equally noted. CaZo founder, Bridgette Borzillo, reputedly makes that emotive ability a high priority for her dancers. Also, CaZo is in the enviable position of having Stephanie Tippi Hart, an actual dramaturg/acting coach, as part of the company.
Bloody Mary is 100% narrative. Each dance movement is the equivalent of a scene in a play. From the wistful opening with Bloody Mary’s introspective song (lead Rebecca Reeder) to the victory snarl from the Queen of the Underworld (lead Laura Belvado) that marked a darkly triumphant end to the program – somebody is always expressing or reacting to something, usually with some combination of diabolical intent, confusion or outright terror.
The acting burden fell heaviest on Reeder. The character of Mary had a wild arc that went from wistful to conniving to seductive, and from terrorizing to terrorized. Her expressive range was continually on display. Belvado, in turn, had equal command of the evil queen. In fact, I never saw a moment when any of the five leads, even in the background, was not in character with a measured reaction to their situation. Given the intensity of this program and the convolutions in the narrative, that was impressive – and crucial to the program’s success.
I love tableaus – even simple ones. As an audience member, I appreciate the momentary suspension of time, a reprieve from the incessant motion, a chance for my gaze to linger, however briefly. For me, a tableau is a bridge between performance art and visual art – bodies frozen in time like a photograph or sculpture. Bloody Mary presented the audience with a tour de force of creative arrangements, composed primarily of the extensive ninja/evil minion ensemble.
A tableau is often used to begin or end a sequence. Here, Borzillo managed both by effectively using a tableau as a transition between movements – as when two of the girls are elevated and frozen in mid-air at the end of one movement, then discovered in that frozen tableau by a third girl at the beginning of the next movement.
The most impressive tableau was a dramatic, immense, tree-like structure, foreboding but beautiful, that morphed into different aspects of itself and then, in a very lyrical sequence, divided and divided again into smaller versions of the original. It was a thing of wonder and perfectly integrated into the activity on the stage.
And these weren’t just artistic poses – the minions became some crazy Lego block/transformer units used to construct momentary set pieces like the weirdly impressive throne for the Queen of the Underworld, and a startling, functioning, grand staircase for Bloody Mary. The three-section wheel-like construct, built entirely out of minions, holding one of the girls captive in each of its sections, was truly inspired.
I hate using the work “tricks” because that implies you are attempting to deceive someone when really, it’s just creating an element of surprise, but whatever – there were certainly some surprises built into the choreography. The biggest was definitely when Mary was catapulted into the air in a long, vaulting flight. It was impressive, though it didn’t seem motivated by any other action on the stage or integrated into the scene like her descent down the human staircase. There were smaller moments that were engaging such as the humor in using a line of minions to swing a horizontal dancer inches off the floor with their feet.
If I had a problem with the program, it was following the story line. Bloody Mary wants some girls as companion playthings, the Queen of the Underworld helps procure them and then, for unexplained reasons, wants them back and a struggle ensues. I read the synopsis and reviewed the movements listed in the program (all nineteen). I observed the production closely. Because I was reviewing the piece, I took notes. I asked questions. I saw the production – twice. Each time, at some point – usually after the capture of the girls, I got lost. Where are we? What’s happening now? What does this mean?
As a young undergrad, that last question was one I asked of the area’s premier choreographer after one of her productions. She assured me, with the faintest trace of exasperation, that dance doesn’t have to MEAN anything. It simply IS. Over the years, I’ve come to accept that – sort of. There is a continuum in all art from abstract to literal, and narrative occupies a space in that arc where meaning becomes increasingly important, even if we are left to construct it for ourselves.
There is such an intelligence apparent in the conception of this program, such concentration on story, that I must believe each movement was purposeful, specifically designed and sequenced for its contribution to the whole. This is a carefully crafted narrative, with well-defined intent – and it concerns me that I was unable to follow it.
Ultimately, this problem is built into the form. Unlike the theatrical and literary arts, dance, stripped of its voice, is simply not capable of communicating complex plot lines and character development, a weight traditionally borne by dialogue. The form will stretch, but at some point it breaks and we are left with experiencing movement for its own sake. That happens here when the girls are subjected to one terror after another. Who is inflicting it – whether Mary or the Queen, or why, just isn’t clear. That’s not the end of the world and the drama is still enjoyable as pure spectacle, but we are receiving an incomplete version – some fraction of what the choreographer intended and worked so hard to perfect – and what we, the audience, deserve. Short of reverting to pantomime, subtitles or ring girls with signs, I don’t know what the answer is. But I can clearly see the problem – and I experienced it with Bloody Mary.
While CaZo didn’t crack the code on translating narrative with dance, we can settle for what was otherwise a terrific accomplishment. Bloody Mary constantly attended to its emotional content, found creative stylistic variation for an insane number of movements and fully incorporated the ensemble into the production. It was full of innovation – tap used as a form of intimidation, a virtual master class on the use of tableau, creative carries and body manipulations and a soundscape that delivered it all with maximum impact. It came at the audience non-stop and blew us away. The audience response was effusive, and as part of that audience, I add my own appreciation here.
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