A miniature white apartment building was wheeled onstage, what looked like the work of Italian architect Aldo Rossi, and from time to time one could see within Rogers jigging about as if he were a guest on “Laugh-In.’’ “This is how tall I was,’’ Fulton suddenly told us. “This is the only place that makes me laugh. This is chipped blue nail polish.’’ Everybody started talking; Salvatierra might have been translating into Spanish. One story came into focus: a couple, pregnancy, physical abuse. A video projection seemed to show Fulton and Rice in the room of an apartment, another Melaas and Avery meeting for drinks, a third Madorin and Salvatierra walking over stones, through grass.
In nuanced narratives, we wait, listen, and learn
DANCE REVIEW
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Too many stories? Perhaps. But “other stories’’ isn’t really about narrative - it’s about learning to observe and listen, something Beller’s six dancers were doing whenever they weren’t “talking.’’ Toward the end, the couples re-formed, Avery with Salvatierra, Fulton with Melaas, Rice with Madorin, and signature moves were repeated: Madorin’s temper tantrum, Rice and then Salvatierra lying atop Avery. It was as if we’d been taken into an alternate universe where the couples had hooked up differently.
The piece ended as it had begun, the shutters rising on the now dark harbor, Rogers back in the middle of the circle. When he walked off, the six dancers seemed stranded, silhouettes looking out toward the harbor, as if a new narrative were gestating there. At least, that’s my story.
Jeffrey Gantz can be reached at jeffreymgantz@gmail.com.
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