Written by Kaitlin McCarthy
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| Ate9 inSally meets Stu Photo by Tim Summers |
Twelve dancers comprise Ate9, including Agami, who hail from Seattle and across the country. As the piece begins in slow unison, each dancer’s exquisite differences are brought keenly into focus. From within the seeming sea of dancers, Seattle ’s Sarah Butler performs a solo displaying quick-fire flexibility and balance, before upbeat music breaks the mood and fast, layered dance sequences begin. The material is a mix of gestural and highly technical, with complex rhythms and unexpected physicalities. It is unusual to see technical dance that is still interesting—that feels like more than a just series of impressive tricks. The kinetic energy is also sheer joy to watch, and the fast pace is returned to multiple times throughout the performance. Later, theatrical elements are introduced. Nadav Heyman casually tells the audience the story of how Sally met Stu, and then another possible version of the story, and then another. Each have wildly different endings, but all are bitter and tragic, infused with dark humor. The stories are accompanied by dance sequences that at times illustrate and at times contrast, bringing a thoughtful subtext to the stories. At one point Heyman performs an entrancing solo where he struggles with controlling his own spastic body. The solo is excellent, but it is unclear as to how it relates to his role as narrator. The other dancers, however, move in and out of character fluidly, embodying Sally, Stu, and seemingly all of humanity. Combined with lighting effects designed by Amiya Brown, Agami takes snapshots from the everyday and abstracts them. A woman habitually making dinner, a group of people watching a movie and eating sunflower seeds—isolated, these familiar scenes become both terrifically beautiful and sad. Another fast dance sequence begins—dancer Tara Dyberg exhibits stunning technical prowess, and Genna Moroni is a dance firecracker. Then, the show suddenly ends. If not for a planted audience member whose job was clearly to initiate applause, no one would have known the piece was finished. It seems a shame to sell a masterpiece short on its final note, but with a little extra finagling, Agami could easily create a more satisfactory ending.
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| Sally meets Stu Photo by Tim Summers |
To donate to Ate9’s campaign, visit their Indigogo site, visit http://www.indiegogo.com/ate9dancecompany
To learn more about the company and their upcoming shows, visit
