REVIEW: Jaw-dropping dance by Bridgman, Packer and a host of themselves

Posted by arts_reviews

Posted: January 25, 2008 - 2:15 am

Bridgman Packer: Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer in "Under the Skin."

By Dawnell Smith

If you like saturating your senses, then scramble over to Alaska Dance Theatre for a jaw-dropping marvel of sound, film, movement and light. Don't second guess yourself. Just go, even if your idea of the perfect weekend means watching "Knocked Up" outtakes over a bag of chips.

What Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer accomplish through multi-media dance is dynamic, stunning, provocative and occasionally startling. Screens and lighting create shadows while video projections sustain a virtual counterpoint to the actual dancers, each piece teetering between moment and memory, body and illusion.

Video images appear on everything from black curtains and veils of tulle and satin to their clothing. The dancers interact with these images in exacting ways, so precision counts. They execute their work fluidly after nearly 30 years together.

At times playful or vulnerable, chaotic or still, each and every piece poses questions of identity and reality. Excerpts from "Memory Bank" create a mesmerizing, sensual puzzle of limbs and torsos as the dancers mingle with each other as well as with recordings of themselves projected back at delayed intervals.

Another pieces, "Under the Skin," plunges into an exhilarating blast of images as the two dancers move in and out of hidden gaps in the curtain while a wily sax-soaked kind of keeps up the flow. Just when you think you know where the real Bridgman or Packer is, the image floats away on a field of text.

Sound confusing? Don’t worry. The intrigue of each layer builds rather than distorts visual appeal and understanding. They clearly welcome the somber and thoughtful as well as the clownish. Packer and Bridgman know how to put on a show that dazzles in the moment and lingers long afterwards.

Thursday night, the audience looked riveted.

"What a trip," one woman said earnestly to a friend at intermission. "Wow, I don't know what to say," said another after the show. Indeed, how does one express a sensory experience so rich in just a few words?

I haven't even mentioned the music, for one thing. Grammy Award winning percussionist Glen Velez composed the music for "Carried Away" and "Memory Bank," and played from a handful of frame drums in those pieces too. He looked unflappable as his hand and fingers blurred around each drum's skin.

Robert Een composed and played cello for "Seductive Reasoning," but caught my attention through song. He sounded at times like the voice of clarity amid visual turmoil.
Bridgman and Packer (www.bridgmanpacker.org) clearly pick their collaborators carefully, for the lighting and video were equally up to the task.

So go. Immerse yourself in images, questions and illuminations. While movies like "Knocked Up" aren't going anywhere anytime soon, these dancers might not return for a long, long time.

xxx

Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer will present "Seductive Reasoning," "Under the Skin," and excerpts from "Carried Away" and "Memory Bank" through January 27. Performances start at 7 p.m. today and Saturday, and 4 p.m. Sunday, at Alaska Dance Theatre, 550 E. 33rd Ave. After the Friday and Saturday shows, percussionist Glen Velez, vocalist Lori Cotler and cellist/vocalist Robert Een will jam for a spell. Look for food and a no-host bar in between. Tickets cost $25 for the dance program, $20 for the jams, and $40 for both (www.outnorth.org).

Several workshops will take place this weekend too. Robert Een will cover "The Moving Voice" at noon on Saturday at Out North (3800 DeBarr Road, www.outnorth.org) and Glen Velez and Lori Cotler will lead a frame drum and rhythm voice session at 2 p.m. Each workshop costs $10, $7 for students.

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