Kris Eitland

San Diego Arts

Malashock Dance's "Stay The Hand" at the Birch North Park Theatre

Troupe is stellar; program suffers from sameness
By Kris Eitland
Posted on Tue, Apr 8th, 2008
Last updated Thu, Apr 10th, 2008

"Can art heal the world's problems?" asks John Malashock during the introduction of "Stay The Hand," which premiered Saturday at the Birch North Park Theatre. It's a loaded question that prompts a collective mumble, "No, well, hmmm, maybe, er…" But the charming Malashock rightly suggests that while art can't save the world, this collaboration offers reflection and hope.

"Stay The Hand" illuminates ancient and recent struggles within the Judeo-Christian and Moslem worlds - and it stimulates discussion, particularly on the plight of women forced into a life of veils and obedience.

Bradley Lundberg, Jillian Chu, and Michael Mizerany in

"Stay the Hand." Elazar C. Harel

The program of 10 athletic dances doesn't follow a narrative as suggested by the title, but is fueled by electronic Persian music and poetry. The dances juxtapose unison groups (including Malashock, who fills in for an injured dancer) with daring lifts, manipulations, and falls in duets and trios.

The troupe's specialty is sharing weight and lifting each other to create every conceivable shape: Dancers Michael Mizerany and Bradley Lundberg are skillful partners for the women and stunning warriors in hand-to-hand combat. Jillian Chu and Christine Marshall are fearless, balancing in towering poses and falling backward into the arms of fellow dancers.

In Part I, the dances create chilling images of life and death events and separation. A frightening, yet beautiful sequence has the men lifting two women, but their rise is bittersweet; the women reach for each other, but are pulled apart. One can't help but think of young girls being torn from their siblings and sent into forced marriages.

Duets and trios are the most engaging - contrasting soft gestures and stiff bodies in space, and both men and women thrill with their smooth strength and edgy expressions. Dancers leap off one hand, clasp their hands together as if forming flatbread, and roll onto their bellies. Repeating the sequence conveys a life of toil.

While the dances focus on conflict, the company exudes harmony, especially in risky lifts, rolls, and leans that require split-second timing. Chu's performances are riveting; delicate, yet wildly daring, her timing and stamina are remarkable.

Although it's not mentioned in program notes, the theme of women living under the thumb of men is pervasive and compelling. In "Vashti," Eduardo Larios Cueto holds Chu by the neck, tipping her rigid inanimate body from side to side. She eventually places her feet on his hips, leans out, and balances on his pelvis. If that weren't demeaning enough, Mizerany and Lundberg appear and the three men manipulate her limbs like sadistic chefs preparing a chicken. But Chu is the victor and remains stoic, unharmed. Lara Segura is vibrant and exotic but not given enough lead. In an eerie sci-fi section, she scoops Marshall up from the floor with super-human strength. She's also commanding in several frisky sections with her smoldering eyes and naughty grin.

Shahrokh Yadegari's intense score creates breathless tension, and it straddles both the modern and ancient world. Middle Eastern themes with traditional instruments are punctuated by electronic bursts that push the dances back and forth through time. Persian poems that touch on Cain and Abel's blood, temptation, and prayer connect the dances, and although the words are not in English, their mysterious sounds and rhythms tickle the ear.

But few Americans are fluent in Farsi. The recitations and music are strange, and it all begins to blur. By Act II, the choreography loses its distinction. There are no lightning bolts from God or sacrificed children. Instead there are more slow motion group dances and bodies flipping through space like pancakes and tipping over like big trees. Vivid folk dance grapevines and a few fevered moments, such as the troupe lined up in deep second plies and spastic hand-to-hand wiggles are most memorable. One very brief moment of fun includes head butts and chest thumps, but the bulk of dances are a serious and slow mediation on good versus evil in the real and mythical realms.

Costumes of t-shirts and pajama pants are a bit drab, and one section has women in short tattered skirts better suited for a Gothic Wilma Flintstone. The set design - two white sails pulled taught, yet moveable - catches color and light. It suggests Bedouin tents and winds blowing over desert sands. An understated lighting design by Jennifer Setlow scatters shadows and colors. The sound quality is crisp, but volume borders on uncomfortable toward the end.

Be sure to stay for the finale. The emotional journey ends with soaring tour jetes and a final explosive toss. And while the climb to the top is too long and that final moment of joy is too short, "Stay The Hand" leaves you with provocative images and a new perspective - and it certainly inspires discussion.

"Stay The Hand" continues this weekend at the Birch North Park Theatre, April 11, 12, & 13, 2008.

download program

download dancer biographies

download poems1

download poems2

download poems3

About the author: Kris Eitland's critiques and features have appeared in Dance Magazine, Dance San Diego Magazine, San Diego CityBeat, sandiegotheaterscene.com, and sandiego.com since 2006. Her writing career includes stints in both commercial and public radio news. She studied dance extensively at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and SDSU and holds a journalism degree
More by this author.

Share this article

Subscribe to Arts

 · 

Comments

Be the first to comment on this article.

(1)sandiego.com, Inc. invites comments in which readers can respond freely and anonymously if they wish. Comments submitted by readers will be rejected that are deemed by the editors to be damaging to the future of this web site.
(2)Comparison is made from the IP Address identity of the computer placing the posts. Some networks share these addresses between users.