Descent

Descent, performed by Kinetic Light was a performance of the “story of Greek mythical figures Venus and Andromeda as an interracial love story with choreography that conjures the aesthetics of August Rodin’s sculpture Toilet of Venus and Andromeda.”   As captivating and heartfelt as this story was, that was not the aspect that I found most intriguing; the architecture and usage of the stage grappled with my attention.

The stage creation, led by Laurel Lawson (product architect) allowed the disabled to connect with the performance.  The gradual inclines of the stage signified the challenges that the disabled faced as it gave not only kinetic potential but a “challenge of the conventional relationship of slope and disabled movement.”  The stage itself was a work of art, crafted with articulate curves and bends that gave the stage dynamic.  This created a uniqueness to the performance as typically dancers will perform on a flat surface.  Although the slopes were necessary to the movement of the wheelchairs, the performers also used the bends to their advantage as the beginning of the piece began with one of the dancers grasping onto the corner of the stage and slowly descending down it. 

As the performers progressed to the use of the wheelchairs, all that I could think about was the intense repetition that it must have taken the performers to achieve the perfect angles.  There were moments where the audience held their breath as the dancers flew down the ramps and swirled around as they did.  The intense choreography called the dancers to evoke such strength as well as control of their movement, gracefully stopping and moving the complex aspect of their wheelchairs.   The other moments of strength came from the pure core balance that both performers needed in order to lift each other and to hold the chair at certain angles on the stage due to the slopes.

Blind and nonvisual audiences were also able to experience the architecture through sound.  One of the most notable aspects during the performance was the amplified sounds of the dancer’s feet and/or wheelchairs on the stage.   The choreography perfectly matched these amplifications to the music, timing their movement and sound to create overlap and thus a beautiful piece of sound art. Additionally, the performance was centered to accommodate the perspective of those in wheelchairs.  Kinetic Light’s attention to detail in this regard only added the beauty of the performance. 

I personally enjoyed the performance as I felt as though it built empathy with its choreography throughout the performance.  Both dancers amplified such a deeper emotion to the story than just a performance; the audience could visually feel the passion the dancers had to include every person, disabled or not.  The time and the effort put into the performance was apparent, as they laid their heart and soul into their movement.  Also, the performance for me highlighted the fact that a disabled person is not incapable or limited.  Beauty was captivated and strength was amplified through the dancer's use of wheelchairs.