"Our social communities and strong relationships also orient us and send us in specific directions," says LAVA founder Sarah East Johnson, who also directed the all-female dance group's latest offering, Atlas. The piece is about the different ways of orienting oneself, but it is really the human connections in the piece that make the strongest impact.
Atlas is comprised of twelve interconnected dance and acrobatic numbers that utilize live and recorded music, visual art, trapezes, and a stationary bike. My personal favorite was "Solar System," in which the company pieces together a rendition of Elton John's "Rocket Man," as two members revolve on a trapeze, orbited by the stars below--tiny lights carried on the backs of bikes, scooters, and skateboards. The trampoline-heavy "4 Directions" launched the performers onto each others backs, shoulders, and knees with seeming weightlessness.
There were some moments that felt a little unironed out or unfinished. It took a while for the first piece, "Durras," to really gel in it's synchronized movements or its intent. Similarly, the last piece, "Bottles," in which the performers ran around artist Tony Feher's glowing bottles hung like caterpillars, looked like a lot of fun to do, but read as a bit chaotic to the audience.
However, these little hints of mess and the wink-and-nod towards them totally work for LAVA. Especially in their acrobatics and trapeze work, they undeniably have chops. But the real joy of watching this company is, well, their real joy. From the way they interact with each other to their obvious love of the game, there's a lot of genuine pleasure present on the stage so contagious the audience can't help but catch it.
Running at Dixon Place through 12/11, Atlas is one to catch. You might find yourself asking, where is this going? But then you realize you don't really care about the answer, because you know where you are.
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http://www.lavalove.org/
Chloe Carter Brown is a writer, playwright, and blogger living in New York. Her newest play, Beautiful Somewhere, was featured in the Culture Project's Women Center Stage festival this spring at the Living Theater. Her short play, "Blast Radius, or, Rachel and the Salt Pillars" was also produced as part of the Studio Series at Williams College this year. Her other writing has been featured on Huffington Post and USA Today. http://bootsandkittens.tumblr.com
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