Dancers toe a paradoxical border

Author: Beth Connolly

"I'm really quite unsure about which part of me is wasted. Trapped in flesh which doesn't seem to be responding the way that other people's flesh seems to," says a member of the troupe "Dancing Across Borders." Though his words were evocative, the true power of his expression came from his movement: he leapt and writhed in irregular, frenetic patterns that nearly curbed his ability to speak. The dance was an exaltation gone awry, twisted into a show of despair.

What distinguishes the troupe is that each of its performances is entirely improvisational and every performance is a different take on the same structure with five solos. One of the performers described performing dance improvisations as a "state of grace," uniting spontaneity and the unknown. Another described it as a "spiritual experience of being out of and in control at the same time." Group improvisation requires risk-taking and trusting the balance of working together. Most of all, the dancers explained, it is important to take responsibility for what is brought to the moment; anything can succeed if the dancer doesn't abandon it.

The troupe consists of five artists: Paul Matteson, Lin Snelling, Michael Reinhart, Pamela Newell and Robert Bergner. Based in Montreal and New Hampshire, the dancers share roots in both Canada and New England - Matteson and Bergner are Middlebury alumni.

Not only do they cross the border of nationality, but they also hope to cross the borders between arts, blending dancing, writing and singing through motion, words and music.

The performance began with only one dancer on the stage. As he sat with his guitar, he continued to fumble with it and nearly drop it, making a percussive beat accentuated by the twang of his grabbing the strings. He then began to write on an imaginary chalkboard, scrawling line after line until he was forced to lie on the stage in order to reach the bottommost region of the chalkboard. In previous shows, the dancers explained, they generally utilize an old-fashioned chalkboard and chalk as their only props. Though Friday's performance physically lacked the chalkboard, the dancers' motions were often informed by the idea of writing or erasing.

This was only one example of the way that the dancers' movements seemed to be inspired by the gestures that populate reality. Often, these were gestures that indicated direction: beckoning to the audience, pointing to places onstage.

"Come together," one dancer repeated as he drew the other dancers toward him. Gradually, the dancers gathered into one clump, hanging onto each other so as to completely eliminate the space between them. Together, their dance was a tentative balance of joined motion. This was the only time in the performance when all of the dancers occupied the same space; and though they did, their distinct identities unquestionably persisted.

The highlight of the show - motion inspired by gesture - was a full-troupe dance that followed a monologue on fingerprinting. The dancers pressed their fingers onto imaginary passports, dragging them through the air. Though the dancers did not move in unified or choreographed patterns, their individual dances complemented each other. They functioned together in a pleasing contrast between frantic, fast, rushing motion and slow, contemplative lulls and pauses. This departure from a realistic gesture to an abstraction exemplified the show's two extremes.

The dancers also incorporated improvisational music into the performance, using, at different times, a guitar, a cello, an accordion, a tambourine, a piano, a harmonica and percussion. The instruments lent the show an added dimension, providing both accompaniment and a dynamic sense of pace. In a way, voice functioned as an instrument as well: words spoken while dancing had the same complementary effect that background music did, heightening the emotional force already present in the dancers' motions.

The performance was so cohesive, compellingly and intricately executed, that it could easily have been choreographed. The dancers moved in harmony with one another while and solos spoke to similar themes: the search for self, the tension between individual action and group belonging and the articulation, through movement, of varying definitions of being. Perhaps the most powerful aspect of the performance was its effective communication of emotion, whether it was loneliness, frustration or wistfulness. Through the union of music, word and motion, "Dancing Across Borders" succeeded in an aesthetic representation of experience.