MARIA. Maria Caruso closed one door — performing with her company, Bodiography, here in Pittsburgh at the Byham Theater — and opened another, a solo career that will take her far afield. But before we get to that, she choreographed (and will continue in the future) a duet, Light By Love, quite lovely, yet controlled for Misa Pascarella and Dan Savage, with Theo Teris at the piano (a nice touch) and then moving on to Follow the Light, a ballet set to Cold Play, which showed how she has developed her rock roots with a larger sense of phrasing. Her solo, My Journey, relied on her own rock solid performing style. The piece was obviously heartfelt, detailed and much of it quite literal as Maria went through her life, following her own ups and downs through a scrapbook of memories, especially significant for those of us who have been there from the start.
JASMINE. Jasmine Hearn’s inviting face tops an always curious body. But it also harbors a probing intellect that comes up with such intriguing concepts. Her latest at PearlArts Studio was a “response” (her favorite word lately) to the Bill T. Jones/Keith Haring collaboration called Long Distance at New York’s The Kitchen in 1982. There Bill created a dance using the sound of Keith’s brushstrokes as he painted on the wall behind them. Jasmine paired with Chicago artist Ayanah Moore on this occasion for what they titled FLOW. Judging from a brief clip on YouTube, the women were more connected, both with each other and involving the audience. Ayanah’s large brown paper swatch had microphones attached to the perimeter so that her brushstrokes resonated more fully. Jasmine, in the meantime, worked the room — she has a real sense of personal theater, tempered with a naturalness that is always engaging. Beginning in a kneeling position, her back to most of the audience, she undulated, rising and arching her back to expose her breasts. Her sexuality was a part of it all — covered, uncovered, bared and recovered. But it was only a part of the response, where the movement could curl up and pop open, mingle with the audience around her, engaged in shadowing and playful repartee with Ayanah and jiggle with ecstasy. There were a few snatches of whispered songs, too. Oh, and Ayanah gradually uncovered the message: BOTH WANTING BOTH LOVING, written twice in raw, mirrored images. ALSO: Check out Jasmine’s gritty/elegant stop/start, always fascinating video with Paul at jasmine+Paul, also available for subscription:
https://www.patreon.com/creation?hid=1739587&rf=364407&ty=1
ALEXANDRA. Lastly, Alexandra Bodnarchuk just sent notice that her cross-disciplinary dance project (also with video) has been accepted for the 2015 Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival. It’s called Dance From the Inside Out, but hey, let Alexandra tell you about it in her message: click on DFIO.
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