Thoughts on "So/La Spaces"

Much like "On these four matters matters we cannot agree..." this piece had the great concept of juxtaposing two different performance styles. The piece was divided into two sections, "Sky" and "Water." I want to focus on the dance piece, "Sky."

"Sky" featured M.F.A. candidate in Performance as Public Practice, Meg Brooker. I loved her costume. It was a flowy, peach dress. And I don't know if it was the costuming or the dancing or just the way she looks, but I felt like I had been transported to a different time. A time when Florence Fleming Noyes WAS alive and developing Noyes Rhythm, the early twentieth century movement practice which inspired "Sky."

The piece was performed on the B. Iden Payne stage, but that included the seating area. This made this performance extremely intimate. Because we were enclosed in close quarters, Brooker's use of breath in her dance was evident. She later said it was a conscious choice to implement her breath the way she did. It emphasized on the use of the solar plexus. According to the "So/La Spaces" program, the solar plexus, or the "spot" as it is referred to in Noyes terminology, is the body's coordinating center. I could relate to this concept because the solar plexus is one component of the chakras. I took a movement improvisation class with Yacov Sharir last semester and he implements the awareness of the body's chakras in performance.

"Sky" also featured watercolor images by artist Linda DeHart. The images were projected during Brooker's dance. Her movement, coupled with the images, created a sense of exploration and adventure. A celebration of human beings and earth, the relationship created between the two through movement.