Company: Valkyrie Yao
Choreographer: Valkyrie Yao
Performers: Valkyrie Yao, Dean Saifullin
The initial presentation of this piece was visually arresting. A lone figure in one corner of the stage, stood immobile, wrapped like a mummy in a long, continuous, red theatrical gauze, creating a sense of anonymity and mystery. That same wrapping then made a red slash across the stage as it partially engulfed the principal dancer and choreographer, Valkyrie Yao. Prominent also was a small, human-sized dais in the center of the stage. We immediately knew that we were in a conceptual realm with no clue where we would be taken and how and why.
Obviously, there was a fairly specific idea inspiring and driving this presentation, but it is the nature of art that it exists in the eye and mind of the beholder. As an audience, unless we are handed a storyline, we are confined to our own impressions – which may or may not correlate to the artist’s conception. I’m always torn about getting the back story on a particular piece. On the one hand, it can provide a significant insight into the work, but I believe that, in the end, the artist’s imagination should stimulate, not replace the imagination of the audience. And so, for the moment, Off to On had no fixed meaning for me, but wandered freely in the mental space I gave it leave to occupy.
What we are given is that there is something here, and something else over there. And they are connected, physically and conceptually. One is entirely static, the other extremely animated. There are any number of concepts that we could derive from this. The most obvious, and for me the least interesting, would be birth and death. You don’t want to overthink it. Death is a separation, an ending, but hese figures were physically connected. So in that scenario the static figure, Death, is nothing (perhaps that’s the Off?) and the animated performer, Birth/Life, is something (the On?). But that seemed simplistic to me and didn’t account for what impressions I was being given. There was, if not control, at least an energy flowing from the figure to Yao, and that’s what worked for me.
Whatever that static, immobile figure provided, whatever spiritual force, it was compelling. Yao’s character existed within that energy, and her movement was a reflection of its effect on her. The small dais that she was lying on in the center of the stage both reduced her movement and focused our attention on the smallest details. I kept wondering if the standing figure would suddenly spring into motion, but he didn’t, and this essentially became a one-person performance.
To her credit, Yao’s choreography did not degenerate into another cliched, angst-ridden solo. I sensed something more complex here, exploratory, experiential. Yao’s movement, her elegant and precise articulation and her easy extension, demonstrated her advanced ability and kept us mesmerized as she worked through the mysterious elements driving the performance.
Extending the vocabulary of dance requires risk. But it’s understood that both the conception and execution must exist at the very highest level the artist is capable of. Clumsy experiments are for school. On the professional stage, if you fail, it should be spectacular. Love it or leave it, Yao’s effort demonstrated fearlessness, ambition and a command of her form that gave her the momentum to totally commit to her vision. Conceptual work, and this piece was blatantly, unapologetically, conceptual, is all too easy to dismiss. Frankly, much of that is justified. But I want to go on record as saying I believe that, in this performance, the emperor was fully clothed, that there is a mystery here that would be debased or inaccessible without some level of abstraction – some small gap between the artist’s intention and the audience’s awareness that allows the spark of recognition to leap across the divide.
Off to On was an intriguing combination of high-concept performance art and an energetic dance performance within a minimalist framework. It immediately invited speculation and focused the audience’s attention. Valkyrie Yao’s command of both concept and performance puts her in a category that includes only the most elite of our local dance artists.
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