Choreographer: Lisa Starry
Performers: Kalli Sparish, Xavier Brown, Martha Hernandez, Lisa Hammond, Tawny Hyster, Nicholas McEntire, Alexander Patrick, Brayan Perez, Travis Richardson, Amber Robins, Victor Vela
I didn’t realize how hungry I was for this program until I saw it. Choreographer Lisa Starry went deep for Match Girl, tapping into the raw, emotive power of cultural fairy tale fantasy. Undeterred by a backdrop of endless reproductions of The Little Match Girl in every medium, she somehow managed to forge a unique vision around one of the most improbable possibilities – dance. In doing so, she seamlessly warped time and brought us into a bleak reality of her own making that was simultaneously historical, contemporary and timeless.
In Starry’s reimagined world, The Little Match Girl, now simply Match Girl, is still attempting to sell matches on the street in a world populated by the contemporary homeless, complete with their shopping carts and plastic crates. Her dramatic entrance, up from black in a small pool of light from a single match – with an ominous storm reverberating in the soundtrack – rivets our attention on her smallest gesture. From the first moment, we are irrevocably in her world and will not be released for the duration.
In the beginning, it is hard to call this dance. This is theater, but it is theater in motion – and more to the point, it is motion that creates emotion. I will say this now, and risk repeating myself, our Match Girl, Kalli Sparish, who we know as a dancer and aerialist – displays some serious acting chops in this production. In the best actorly tradition, she communicates this story with her fluid facial expressions and the responsive attitude of her entire body. With little or no movement on her part, we not only see but feel her desperation as she pathetically offers a single match for sale to the stony-faced, indifferent crowds streaming by her. This is also our first indication of how adroitly Starry uses her ensemble in support of the story.
When Match Girl and the ensemble break into a short dance segment complete with high-handed turns, her character and situation have been thoroughly established and the integration of theater and dance is complete. The choreographer has truly set the stage and is free to explore this tale in whatever manner her vision dictates. I think that what most impressed me about the choreographer’s vision was its range. The story of The Little Match Girl is pretty much unrelenting suffering relieved only by delusions and death. Starry’s Match Girl intersperses the bleakness with moments of mutual assistance and comfort, simple pleasure and even ecstatic joy.
For me, the snowfall sequence was one of the most touching moments in a show characterized by non-stop, emotional drama. In the midst of all that misery, something as simple and human as the open-eyed wonder of snowflakes on your tongue was heartrendingly beautiful. Sparish and the ensemble displayed an almost childish playfulness, and the simple tactile pleasure that momentarily took them out of their situation felt authentic.
What I think of as the hunger sequence was well-constructed, starting small, in isolation, with Match Girl and developing slowly through the ensemble. It seemed clearly motivated and consistently connected as it transitioned from Match Girl’s hunger pangs to the absolute destitution of the homeless, the ensemble demonstrating their empty crates – crates which, in a nice example of stagecraft, could then be assembled and variously reconfigured to support the progression of the story as Match Girl rummages through the trash for the merest morsel or the ensemble, prostrate upon the floor and the empty crates, demonstrate that hunger and suffering is widespread. The slow, inexorable progression of this sequence makes her imminent starvation alarmingly real.
I’m not intimately familiar with the original plot of The Little Match Girl, but I’m pretty certain she didn’t dance in an ethereal glow with the amazing Alexander Patrick. Starry has (and I will unashamedly use the word “brilliantly”) reimagined The Little Match Girl’s transcendent, escapist visions in the extremes of her suffering. In using the image of a captivating lover, she created an emotional equivalency, equally unexpected and equally capable of transforming Match Girl’s final, desperate moment to one of inexplicable joy. Plus, Patrick was, conveniently enough, already there in the ensemble. I don’t like using the word “lovely”, especially because their duet was something a bit more than that. We in the audience desperately craved an uplifting moment and this duo, with their authentic embraces, dramatic turns and literal lifts, really delivered.
If there was a motivation for the aerial sequence, I missed it. It follows Match Girl’s delirium dance but the connection from there wasn’t clear to me. Three aerial fabrics were lowered to the floor and Sparish, with two other performers, approached them and mounted simultaneously. Without specific motivation, the aerial sequence seemed more like an interlude, interesting in and of itself, but quizzical for its mere presence. Why suddenly go aerial? Why three? It was certainly well executed. Sparish was accompanied by Martha Hernandez, herself an accomplished aerialist whose work I have seen before, and the three performers managed a very credible routine, though again, the transition from the dismount to the “real” world of the stage also had no apparent explanation. It felt like, “Well, we did that, it was fun and now we’re back.” Along with the rest of the audience, I forgave the oddity of this segment because it really was fascinating to watch, but it also seemed like a missed opportunity to literally elevate the story. I make note of this because the aerial rig was exceptionally well integrated into the program’s dramatic ending as Match Girl ascended into the hereafter. By contrast, the aerial sequence itself seemed to lack continuity and narrative content.
I was so wrapped up in the progression of the story that I got tripped up a bit on the ending. In Match Girl’s desperate last moments, she is uplifted by the ensemble as she reaches for the light. Presumably, this was a joyous vision in which her travails finally cease and she is transported to heaven or wherever Match Girls go. Because she reached for the light it felt like an ascension and the end of the program. I wish I could see this again, because if there was a transition here, between that moment and the actual final ascension on the aerial rig, I missed it. Certainly, Starry is free to construct her own finale, but because I wasn’t aware of the transition between them, the vision and the final ascension each had the same impact and it felt like we were seeing two endings. Ultimately, both moments were beautiful and moving, and I suppose the only real issue was knowing when to stand and applaud.
Match Girl was a terrific example of theatrical dance. Scorpius does not stand alone here. Locally, we’ve had notable examples from the likes of Center Dance Ensemble, Halo Movement Collective and CaZo Dance Company whose full-length, story-based, richly visual productions I’ve had the pleasure of seeing. But this night belonged to Scorpius, and they claimed it with a vengeance.
You know that you’re in for something special when the ensemble is populated with dancers who are soloists in their own right and even the list of production personnel reads like a who’s who in the creative community. But I don’t want to imply that the care and craft choreographer Lisa Starry lavished on this work made its success a foregone conclusion. That is always beyond dictates and determination – it requires a rare combination of artistry and imagination, and the most ineffable of all – emotion. And Match Girl was decidedly emotional.
I try to never say, “role of a lifetime” because – where can you go from there? But Kalli Sparish, with her emotive range and considerable physical vocabulary, carried the entire show and gave it the pathos and emotional depth that Starry’s vison demanded. And make no mistake, Match Girl clearly confirms that Lisa Starry is a visionary.
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