Written by Anne Lawrence
Coriolis Dance Collective held an open rehearsal at Velocity Dance Center on November 6, 2011, providing a tantalizing preview of the program they will present at the Erickson Theater on November 11–12 (tickets at Brown Paper Tickets). The program, “Wing of Egress,” will feature two signature works by the co-artistic directors of Coriolis, Christin Call and Natascha Greenwalt Murphy.
 | |
| (Coriolis dancers Natascha Murphy and Danny Boulet. Photo by Ernie Sapiro) |
Call’s piece, try to hover (or Private Practice 7), premiered in June at the Northwest New Works Festival at On the Boards. It is a powerful meditation on illness, caregiving, and mortality and is arguably Call’s finest and most fully realized work to date. The opening and closing sections presented in the open rehearsal only hinted at the elegant construction of try to hover and the athleticism and tender lyricism of Call’s choreography.
Murphy’s piece, Tethered Apparitions, was presented in 2010 at the Darkhorse Choreographers Showcase at Westlake Dance Center, at Chop Shop: Bodies of Work at the Meydenbauer Theater, and at the Seattle International Dance Festival at Raisbeck Performance Hall; it quickly and deservedly became an audience favorite. Murphy received an Artist Trust GAP Award to expand Tethered Apparitions, and the results are satisfying. There is now a longer and more intricate pas de deux for Murphy and Danny Boulet, and Matt Holmes’ lush, cinematic musical score has been lengthened accordingly. Watching the work in rehearsal was a sensuous pleasure: Murphy looked positively ecstatic in her partnering with Boulet, and dancer Andrea Larreta seemed to soar into the rafters when lifted overhead in arabesque by partner Joel Meyers.
 | |
| (Coriolis dancers Marissa Quimby and Andrea Larreta. Photo by Ernie Sapiro) |
Coriolis members Murphy, Boulet, Larreta, and Marissa Quimby will perform in both works. Sadly, Christin Call is on a leave of absence and will not be performing, but Tori McConnell and Alana O’Farrell Rogers, both well known to Seattle dance audiences, will take Call’s roles in try to hover and Tethered Apparitions, respectively; both looked great in rehearsal. Company regular Sylvain Boulet will also be absent, with Meyers taking his roles. In Quimby and Meyers, Coriolis now boasts two dancers trained by Donald Byrd, and their exceptional power and finesse are additional reasons to expect that “Wing of Egress” will be memorable.
Find out more about Coriolis Dance Collective at http://www.coriolisdance.com/.
