Surfacing

Company: Collaboration – Nicole Bradley Browning and Mary Fitzgerald

Choreographers: Nicole Bradley Browning and Mary Fitzgerald

Performers: Nicole Bradley Browning and Mary Fitzgerald

You simply can’t characterize this performance without referring to the cabbages. Dozens of them were assembled in a maze-like structure on the exterior patio at the Tempe Center for the Arts. It would be easy to dismiss these cruciferous design elements as frivolous, ridiculous or just plain weird, but that would be a mistake.

The frivolity or weirdness of the elements used in a composition is not an issue. What is critical is the extent to which you can commit to them and incorporate them into your larger vision. Nothing is off limits. The set had all the makings of a conceptual art installation and if the profusion of cabbages caught your attention, then the artists have in a small part already succeeded.

As an audience member, I was intrigued – “Hey, what’s going on here?” but as the program unfolded, I continued to have difficulty answering that question to my satisfaction. The two performers were most frequently separated so we saw their actions somewhat independently. The movement here was fairly minimalist.

The piece had an improvisational feel with the dancers variously deconstructing, rearranging and occasionally disturbing the cabbages whose significance became less and less clear except as they helped define the space.

There were a couple brief moments of interaction between the dancers – one in particular that seemed tender and mutually supportive, but I couldn’t find a thread into or out of those moments. Near the conclusion, one dancer gathered an armful of cabbages and let them fall in what I’m sure was meant to be a dramatic moment but it seemed unconnected.

I credit this collaboration with employing a daring concept which was immediately interesting and defined the performance space. Sadly, I couldn’t see the larger intent – if there was one, and the movement alone was not compelling enough to overcome that disconnect. The use of props and artifacts on stage is always tricky as it creates interest but also certain presumptions in the audience. Having the artists’ intentions and the audience’s expectations coincide is a challenge, and with Surfacing, I wasn’t able to bridge that gap.

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