RAWdance: Turing's Apple

Apparently people think I'm not seeing enough dance. Just 2 days after attending Post Ballet's sneak peek, I found myself at RAWdance's summer program of 4 new works. The 1st half consisted of 3 dances, each 10 or 15 minutes long, by different groups. Burn In depicts intricate interactions between a man & a woman, who often make nervous, repeated gestures. When another male dancer joins them, the pace accelerates & becomes more frantic. In Nawala, a corps of 5 female dancers accompany a romantic couple. The mumu-like costumes & the soundtrack's female vocalist made me think of Hawaii. A Dedication was for 3 female dancers, one of whom seemed to be central to the other 2 in some way.

The featured work was Turing's Apple, a somewhat theatrical piece inspired by the strange suicide of Alan Turing, who supposedly bit into a cynanide-laced apple. A dancer portrays Turing, & the corps of 4 female dancers might be muses or sinister forces. The staging included lots of apples, arranged on the floor, on the set & held in C-clamps hanging from the ceiling. Turing bites into an apple at the beginning. Later, Turing & a shirtless man dance an intimate duet while holding an apple between them with their teeth. Apples are sent rolling across the stage, which the female dancers gather & throw at the set. Scenes from Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs were projected on a screen, & toward the end Turing appears wearing Snow White's dress. The insistent, pulsing music by Richard Einhorn reminded me of Philip Glass.

A reception followed the show, where I was introduced to Wendy Rein, the bubbly Co-Artistic Director of RAWdance. As an offering that seemed not quite thought through, apple pie was served.

§ RAWdance Summer Season

RAWdance: Burn In
Choreography: Ryan T. Smith & Wendy Rein

Project. B: Nawala
Choreography: Tanya Bello

Gretchen Garnett & Dancers: A Dedication
Choreography: Gretchen Garnett with the performers

RAWdance: Turing’s Apple
Choreography: Ryan T. Smith & Wendy Rein

Z Space
8pm Saturday, July 26, 2014
Post-show reception and silent auction in the lobby