Transformations in Time
By Stephen Novotni

There are times when it’s easy to make a story do justice to a performance. Text and a black and white photo work many times, not for the author’s prowess, but because most performances aren’t so good that they cannot be described. After Eros was a different case. Let me just start by saying Maureen Fleming is Sci Fi.

Fleming is an American choreographer born in Japan. She incorporates a style of dance known as Butoh, combining it with ballet training to produce a work extraordinary and quite otherworldly.

Fleming doesn’t dance, she moves through time. She didn’t move through time she morphed like a cloud. And then she was more like water.

The piece she used featured sparse scenery and hyperdramatic lighting in the style of David or Caravaggio (I figure my college art professor will see a misspelling here and scream. Sorry, Les!) Most important, Fleming’s body is as pliable as they come.

The real trick of the dance is when it’s barely noticed it is dance. It’s more like a slow motion dream. Fleming has such precise control that when writhing on a staircase, for instance, she seems to float as if in zero gravity. Her movements frequently distort her humanness. You know there is a person on stage, yet one sees only a shapeshifter, moving from one object to the next.

Those who missed this (I hope you didn’t) can check out other presentations of the Contemporary Dance Theatre. Details: 591-1222