Twilight Fringe 3/22/25
Third Space Dance Project
Twilight Fringe is a recurring dance showcase presented by Third Space Dance Project. Third Space is a non-profit arts organization dedicated to providing more performance opportunities for local dancers. This has become a much-anticipated event as these performance opportunities are all too rare. For the benefit of the audience, however, it’s worth noting that, despite its commitment to community outreach, Third Space doesn’t just hand these out randomly or freely. Unlike certain dance schools which flood the stage with students at every level to give everyone a chance, there are no participation awards. Potential performances are vetted and the quality of the presentations is generally quite good. The performers can include everyone from relative unknowns to some of the Valley’s most seasoned talent. Third Space does encourage innovation and experimentation, which provides real growth opportunities for local dancers and choreographers to explore new skills and ideas but also means the resultant work is quite eclectic. While an individual performance might have limited appeal to some, there is always something here for everyone. And more importantly, something that you will not find anywhere else.
Alternative Venues
Art non-profits are a scrappy proposition, fraught with financial pitfalls – and when your organization is running on a permanently embedded shoestring, your first imperative is to get creative. For Third Space, that has occasionally meant exploring alternative performance venues, which have included a courtyard, a rooftop, and on this occasion, a hotel lobby and lounge. This is not unique to Third Space, as others have enlisted everything from backyards to a basketball court. These always require varying amounts of audience accommodation to the physical space and present unique challenges to the performers.
This evening was no exception as the audience shifted from space to space between various lounges and a bar – with or without seating or clear sightlines. I managed, opportunistically, to make this work – with a couple notable exceptions. Two performances that I was anticipating because they included some exceptional local dancers – All That Glitters and So Sweet, So Fair, found me well away from the designated performance spaces with no clear view of either. It’s not a perfect system.
The tradeoff is an assigned seat in a darkened theater versus mingling with the audience and experiencing the performance on a much more immediate level. For smaller, original works, I always think that closer is better. I have to believe that there are advantages for the performers as well – to see and feel the audience around them, and these alternative venues can incorporate all of that. There are times when I just want to sit back in my seat and be entertained, but until they allow me to sit on the stage, I will never have this kind of visceral experience.
So, on this evening, I bought my ticket and I took my chances. I was rewarded with some interesting performances, a few of which I am commenting on here.
A Limerent Kind of Thrill
Choreographer: Angelica DeLashmette in collaboration with Marilyn Castaneda
Performers: Angelica DeLashmette, Marilyn Castaneda
This was a stylish demonstration that the body in repose can be as engaging as the body in motion. It’s perhaps counterintuitive, especially for dance, but a distant, unfocused stare can invite the audience in, and as we project ourselves, our latent emotions and experiences, into the performer, we become invested in the performance. We physically felt the combination of languor and exhaustion being expressed. Perhaps, in the universe I conjured, it was the aftermath of an evening of frivolity and excess, the performers now finding themselves overdressed, alone and seemingly out of place. The melancholy is interrupted by a frantic OMG, where’s my ????? moment that explodes into a frantic search for what we only know is desperately important and not to be found. I didn’t want to read too much into “limerent” in the title (which sadly, as writer, I had to look up). The context here is vague, as is the connection between the two performers. It is at first subtle, almost non-existent, then evolves into a connection with some mutual consolation, and finally a kind of resignation and what feels like abandonment – an actual arc.
What impressed me most about this piece was the willingness to be still, to juxtapose the exotic look of the performers with the most ordinary, inherently uninteresting, behavior (like yawning on a sofa) – then let the scene slowly unfold and take us with it, never quite sure where it was going. It was quiet but mesmerizing – a slow-motion slice of life, with unspoken volumes left for the audience to fill in.
Measured Motions: Exploring Time Signatures in Indian Dance
Choreographer: Poornami Murali
Performer: Poornami Murali
Musicians: Charitra Sankar, Nandini Ramakrishnan
This piece purported to demonstrate the variety of time signatures used in the Bharatanatyam tradition of Indian dance – which I can assure you are complex and varied. However, to really communicate that to a western audience who are irrevocably committed to 1,2,3,4, would require a presentation by a master practitioner with several volunteers, both dancers and musicians, to use for demonstrations – particularly the nattuvanar (the person who keeps time with the cymbals – and yes, I had to look that up). And while you’re at it, some accompanying graphics, and perhaps a whiteboard would help. This form is hundreds of years old, deeply rooted in Indian mythology, and can take half a lifetime to master. I’m convinced that there is no simple explanation of its nuances for a casual western audience.
Our inability to fully comprehend what we are seeing in Bharatanatyam dance has to be tempered with gratitude for the generosity with which it is offered and the cultural opportunity it represents. We were, in fact, treated to a showcase of sorts, replete with the classic Bharatanatyam techniques – the foot slapping, exquisite balancing on one foot, rapid-fire hand gestures and glances accompanied by highly mobile and very specific facial expressions. All of this presented with gorgeous costuming, jewelry and makeup.
It’s understandable that you might come out of this time signature presentation without being able to say “Ta, Dhin, Dhin, Dha” with the appropriate hand-claps (a traditional method of keeping time in Indian music). In which case, a simple, “WOW”, might suffice. So, I’m going with that.
Ins and Ends
Choreographer: Callista Mincks
Performers: Callista Mincks, Marilyn Castaneda, Sans Amaya
While this piece seemed abstract at first, its structure evolved and eventually displayed a clear beginning, middle and end. The interactions between the performers were highly intentional – moments of connection that created characters that then continued to develop throughout the performance. I was convinced there was a narrative here but one with plenty of room for interpretation, as we were presented with elements that could be variously seen as isolation, anger, violence, empathy and reconciliation or triumph. The quality of movement was quite high, but more than that I was aware of a simmering intelligence operating here, of the sort that allows us to call choreographers artists.
Dinner’s at 9
Choreographers: Leah M. Freidman, Juan Carlos Garcia Gutierrez
Performers: Leah M. Freidman, Juan Carlos Garcia Gutierrez
I’m torn between “creative” and “off-the-wall nuts”. Whichever you choose to describe this piece of theater of the absurd, you won’t be wrong. Laden with silly dialogue which was supported by moments of energetic awkwardness, its creators were hell-bent on elevating this patently absurd domestic farce to some semblance of respectability. The fact that they almost succeeded in accomplishing the improbable, as evidenced by the audience’s quizzical but unabashed bemusement, can only be attributed to their inherent likeability and unrelenting commitment to the concept. And a surprisingly effective ending.
In Void
CaZo Dance Theatre
Choreographer: Bridgette Caron Borzillo and Performers
Performers: Megan Ayers, Ally McSpadden, Rachael Minelli, Aliah Teelaw
The program culminated with this immersive piece, performed by a bevy of CaZo lovelies, who immediately set about inhabiting their limited space – which consisted of overstuffed furniture and a grand piano – all of which they thoroughly engaged in the course of their performance, including random notes on the piano which were oddly consistent with their accompaniment. Alternately lounging, leaping, collecting and dispersing for their group and solo turns, it was in equal parts theatrical, contemporary and balletic – all performed with a casual elegance that reminded us that grace and beauty are what brought us to love dance in the first place. A thoroughly satisfying note on which to end the evening.
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