Santa Cruz
Sentinel, The Guide
Friday
July 7, 2006
By GRAHAM HAWORTH
SENTINEL CORRESPONDENT
When it comes to postmodern dance, surrealism is at the heart of any performance. It’s not purely about the dancers moving to the beat of a rhythm; in fact, there need not be any music or rhythm involved. It’s more about what’s going on inside the mind, and how the performance affects those thoughts.
Moving and Storage/Crash, Burn and Die Dance Company — Santa Cruz’s own experimental dance troupe — returns for its annual summer performance. “Lily, Book 1” pushes the boundaries of the fantastical, combining post-modern experimental dance with puppetry and maskwork.
“Lily” is a Chinese folk tale, brought up to date, that tells the story of three sisters. One is enthralled by, even addicted to, a bright red flower that grows in their town. The other two attempt to break their sister from the red flower’s spell. Classic folk-tale elements are present, including a witch living high in the mountains.
“I lived in Japan for six years, and became a fan of Japanese puppet theatre,” said Therese Adams, co-director of Moving and Storage/ Crash, Burn and Die. “I’ve been wanting to do a show like this for 10 years.”
The puppets and maskwork were created by local artist Dag Weiser.
“Dag works a lot in cardboard, but you’d never know it’s cardboard by looking at it,” said Adams.
“Lily, Book 1” is a big piece, clocking in at roughly 50 minutes, and represents the premiere of the Flaming Puppet Sisters, a new subsidiary of Moving and Storage/Crash, Burn and Die.
“We’re using a narrative form, rather than pure dance style,” said Adams. “Of course, postmodern dance is still at the heart of the show.”
In addition to the performances of “Lily,” there is a guest artist at each performance. On Saturday and Sunday, performance artist Lauren Crux presents a spoken-word piece entitled “This Is Just to Say...” which is part comic monologue, part storytelling with poetry and performance art thrown in for good measure. On July 15, choreographer Lisa Christensen performs a piece with comic Hillary Ann Flecha called “Whine Table.” It’s an acrobatic presentation that takes place entirely on a table. The closing night performance on July 16 features Kristin TT and Miranda Janeschild of Mir & A Company in an in-flight show called “Soaring.”
Moving and Storage/Crash, Burn and Die began 22 years ago in Santa Cruz as separate companies. The two often performed together and shared such similar approaches to modern dance that they merged in 1996