LAKE

This is enthralling and experimental dance. I would call it ground breaking, but given that the entire stage is covered by water, that is inappropriate.

One male, Timothy Ohl, and two females, Kristina Chan and Hsin-Ju Chiu, perform in the lake which undergoes various changes: still and inviting; darkly menacing; rough and stormy. In fact by the end they are all dance-moving in the rain. Designer, Bruce McKinven, and the lighting designer, Jason Glenwright, have produced multiple moods through back projections and cross lighting. At its most beautiful and enticing, the lake spreads back into open forest. Matt Cornell’s soundscape uses mostly evocative sounds of nature – birds, animals, weather - augmented at times by emotive music. With surround sound we, in the audience, experience the moods too. 

And that is where my dance appreciation limits became apparent.

Clearly there was some emotional conflict. First there was just one girl enjoying her water activities until she seemed to get into trouble and lay helpless below a cluster of hanging roots. Drowned? I thought so, but I was wrong. A young couple, clearly in love, arrive with folding chairs, light a floating candle, cavort, examine a map of the area. The other girl invades their privacy and splashes their candle out. The action thereafter consisted mainly of duos and trios with occasional reflective solos.

The whole production became hypnotic, enchanting, bewitching. A unique experience for me.

Jay McKee

Photography: FenLan Chuang