You read that right, Samuel Beckett and Igor Stravinsky where apparently secret lovers. I know, because I happened to be fateful enough to stumble upon their secretly inspired love child. The Music and Dance class at Prescott College put on a performance last night at the schools only preforming area, cutely named the 'Gpac'. And don't ask me what that stands for, I don't even think the people running it know(Greater Prescott Art Center?). In either case I found myself sitting in the Gpac. At first I was a little skeptical of this 'performance', but only because of my dance performance history. I was trained traditionally, in a very strict ballet school where our buns on our heads where just as tight and fastened as the rehearsals. In other words, there wasn't such a thing as 'improve'. But I had heard about this class, one in which improve wasn't just encouraged, it was required. The students all let their hair down, their were no leotards, no tight leg silk ribbons, no barre, no tutus and no tights. They didn't even speak French. They were speaking English, and American at that. So needless to say my mind was reeling with questions.
 |
The Music and Dance Class at Prescott College
show that despite their look, their talent means
serious business. |
But then the performance began. Let me start by saying that Beckett and Stravinsky were no where near being in the same time period, but after watching this recital, I got a glimpse of what would have happened if they had.
 |
Nikki Rice proved that she was more then a pretty face
on Wendsday when she took lead as one of three
prima ballerinas, Multon and Mitten being the other two |
The show started with a strange circle dance that seemed like a happy, almost satirical version of Danse Macabre, instantly dragging you into the show. The performers then all sat in a circle and began to play everything from authentic instruments( such as a ukulele) to instruments of pure fantasy ( is that Dr. Suess' Who Hoover ?). The musical composition (mostly made up directly on the spot) is at times random and erratic, and at other times harmonious and equated. Surprisingly, most of the players have never touched an instrument. I got an exclusive talk with Skylar Scott, one of the performers with a preforming history close to mine, strict and regulated. She confined in me that most of the music was not only improved, but that many of them were not aware they were going to being playing an instrument until a few seconds before curtain. "Yeah, they told me 'you can play it[the ukulele]. So I did." When I asked how long she had been playing she responded "... five minutes ago...". The music was strange and rioting, and reminded one of Rite of Spring, the famous 1913 ballet that was so different, it literately started a violent riot and a burning of the theater in which it was held. At one point I even believed it was the famous ballet reincarnate. And if there was such a thing as a prima ballerina in modern ballet, there is no question who would get the title. Tori Multon, Lauren Mitten, and Nikki Rice show strong dance power. Apart they steal the audience. Together they just steal the whole damn show.
 |
Skylar Scott, one of the stars of the show, is as strong a
dancer as she is a singer,
and is one of the few officiated prima donnas at PC.
Of course it helps that she's hott too. |
Voice wise however, the star is obvious. Skylar Scott holds fast to her title of the shows one and only diva, in every original meaning of the word. With a strong voice, and an even stronger stage presence,its obvious that without her the show could just not fully go on; a true prima donna assoluta.
As for the movement, you feel like you've fallen into Beckett's world, a strange existence where little to no life keeps for very long periods of time, and the characters wait in a darkly humorous limbo of hope that their salvation, their way out, and even their god will come in from stage left and save them from all of the gray. You can't help but feel like your watching Waiting for Godot, warped in a mind where Minimalism meets the Theater of the Absurd. The only props were simple; chairs, drums, and themselves.Strange creatures(played by the three prima's themselves) snap at each others clothes, cause a 'crab in a barrel' effect of them falling and rolling on the ground, neither making it above two feet; in a sense they are their own worst enemies. The next scene ushers in strange character but we are given no information, only that they are each acting out a feeling. One drowns in their own sorrow, the next two startle one another. one looks on as if she could care less. Though random, the scenes all flow into each other, so one cant really tell when one begins and one ends.
By the end, it was safe to say we were all calling for an encore. as the players played on and the remaining audience filed out, I found my hand grasped as I was invited to dance along on stage. And I did. I let my hair down and danced with them and forgot every bit of French. In a word this performance defiantly gets a total of three out of five stars. Bravo!
