Entangled

Company: Suspended Fluidity

Choreographer: Jen James

Performer: Jen James

Sometimes I think aerial performance is to dance as glass blowing is to sculpture. Each can be so inherently beautiful that even mistakes are interesting and hard to detect. It’s difficult to know if it is really art. I was gratified when Jen James eliminated that doubt with her performance of Entangled.

We knew we were in for something special when James took the stage in a flowing gown with a long, trailing wrap. This could not be more distant from the conventional leotard or acrobatic body suit we’ve come to expect. How she was going to manage all that material aloft was immediately intriguing.

James did more than “manage” her costume. It was totally integrated into the performance. First, it never seemed like an impediment. At one point she managed a surprisingly swift ascent with no evidence of struggle. The long, trailing wrap became a twisting rope, descending from her spinning ring, a striking visual element which she successfully manipulated before releasing it to the floor. This was as close as she came to justifying the title “Entangled” because the performance seemed like freedom itself.

Rather than complex acrobatics, James concentrated on what I could only characterize as aesthetics – finding beautiful, striking poses, enhanced by her gown, like a series of highly mobile vignettes (if that’s not a contradiction in terms). The constant motion, the elegance of the postures in her flowing costume and the seamless nature of the transitions gave the piece an unexpected visual richness.

Jen James gave a contained, elegant, masterful presentation that totally integrated the aesthetics of her elements and expanded our perception of the possibilities in aerial performance.

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