I was attracted to this piece because of its concept: The juxtaposition of a dancer (Matthew Bunker) and an upright bassist (Jessica Valls). But I was completely captivated by the bass player and didn't pay much attention to the dancer. Honestly, he did a lot of standing around and that bass player was really GETTING' DOWN! It was hard not to pay attention to her. More info on her here.
I had no idea how versatile the upright bass is. It can be jazzy, funky, classical, everything all in one. At one point she was plucking and slapping it a la "August Rush." I loved it!
The only thing I would have liked to see was more confrontation between the dancer and the bassist. There was some at the beginning, but then it sort of tapered off and Valls was doing her thing, while Bunker was doing his. I think it would have made it a more cohesive piece and I probably would have been forced to pay attention to the dancing as well as the music.
Also, I wasn't thinking at all about physicality or gender associations during the performance. Progressive? Maybe. But honestly, I think it was just some badass bass-playing.
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