Arts & Entertainment
 

Lucy Guerin takes dance to new level

By Erin Scoggan
The Daily Cougar

To watch Melt and The Ends of Things is to see modern dancing at its best.

Choreographed by the acclaimed Australian Lucy Guerin, both programs spoke volumes to the audience during the 65 minutes they lasted Friday night.

Dixie Ann Dalton/The Daily Cougar

Melt featured two female dancers, Ros Warby and Stephanie Lake, and was lit by Margie Medlin.

Warbyis pixie-like appearance and stature mixed well with the more statue-esque Lake, an Estella Warren look-alike.

"Melt makes a direct translation between temperature and movement." Guerin said in an interview after last weekis perfomance.

Both dancers portrayed her vision perfectly. Melt opened with both dancers dressed simply in white tank tops and long skirts. Their stilted movements and closeness helped symbolize the cold. Then Meltis lighting scheme erupted from white-hot to a flaming red and orange as both dancers became frenzied from the heat. The dancers gave an excellent performance of transitions from one extreme of temperature and body movement to the next.

The lighting played off the dancersi movements. A white lightening bolt pulsed across the stage, making it appear as if snowflakes were raining down on the dancers.

Throughout Melt, the dancersi moves became faster and more complex, and the techno score by Franc Tetaz only intensified this. 

The Ends of Things was definitely the standout piece of the two. Along with Warby and Lake, Brett Daffy and Trevor Patrick also helped make this piece come to life.

"The Ends of Things looks at the inside and outside in both a physical and psychological sense and the breakdown of the boundaries between what is real and what is imagined." Guerin said.

The stage was a small three-walled room with a chair in its center. Patrick played the lost soul confined to this space, his character going through his boring routines with a pained expression.

When he woke, he pulled his oversized plaid plants over his white underwear and tucked in his horrible 1970s-style golf shirt. His hunched posture and hangdog face made him a believable character. 

Then Warby, Lake and Daffy entered the stage dancing with each other as Patrick continued his daily routine. Eventually the three dancers got into Patrickis space and began controlling his movements. 

Eventually, the room was pushed right up to the audience and the three phantom dancers started having a pretend party with Patrick, trying to bring him out of his shell. 

Through some humorous mishaps the walls to Patrickis room were torn down, and he bid a farewell to the now-still dancers and exited the stage to see what awaits him. 

Lucy Guerinis choreography was exceptional. After all, she didnit travel all the way from Australia to disappoint her audience.

Lucy Guerin 

Melt, The Ends of Things

DiverseWorks Art Space

The verdict: Lucy Guerinis vision and creativity make her works some of the best examples of modern dance.

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