Does what you do make a difference?
Is violence ever justified?
When can activism become terrorism, or vice versa?
Courtesy Photo
Such provocative questions lie at the heart of “underground,” an ambitious, evening-length multimedia dance piece by acclaimed choreographer David Dorfman.
Loosely inspired by the Weather Underground, the radical and sometimes violent 1960s militant group, “underground” explores the similarities and connections between physical and political movement as well as the promise and the danger of ideological passion.
At 8 p.m. Sept. 25 and 26, WUSTL alum Dorfman returns to Edison Theatre with his company, David Dorfman Dance, to launch the 2009-10 OVATIONS series.
“David is one of the most visceral and exciting choreographers working today,” said Charlie Robin, executive director of Edison Theatre. Robin has known Dorfman for more than 15 years.
“He employs a deceptively simple vocabulary of familiar body movements to produce innovative and stunningly dynamic dance,” Robin said. “For ‘underground,’ his professional company will work with a large group of local community members to literally fill the stage with a groundswell of energy and activity.”
Dorfman first conceived “underground” after seeing Sam Greene and Bill Seigel’s Academy Award-nominated documentary “Weather Underground.” Yet, the piece also reflects Dorfman’s lifelong fascinations.
As a teenager in Chicago, Dorfman had been riveted by the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The following year, he was deeply impressed by the Days of Rage riots — a protest against the trial of the Chicago Seven — with which the Weather Underground announced its formation.
Yet, in “underground,” Dorfman’s theme is less political history than political philosophy: In a turbulent world, how does one fight for justice?
“I try hard to be a good global citizen, and I mourn the needless loss of life,” Dorfman told the San Francisco Bay Guardian shortly after the show’s premiere. “So I want my generation and younger people … to look at the nature of activism and what, if anything, justifies the use of force and violence.”
The evening opens with a subtle prelude. As the audience arrives, Dorfman — casually dressed in baggy street clothes — takes the stage and quietly acts out a string of simple gestures that seem to embody the revolutionary fervor of the 1960s: a lunge forward, a raised fist, an arm cocked and ready to throw.
As Dorfman is joined by the full 10-member company, the simple gestures expand into full-blown vignettes exploring the psychology of rebellion. Moments of cool contemplation are juxtaposed with moments of surging, charismatic physicality. Yet punctuating the action is a succession of difficult and often confrontational questions: “Is your country worth killing for?” “Is your family worth killing for?”
“Uncomfortable honesty courses through ‘underground’ like an electrical charge,” The New York Sun wrote. “This is the rare kind of dance theater that keeps people on the edge of their seats. You can’t look away from the powerhouse dancing … nor can you avoid its in-your-face questions.”
The sense of urgency is further underlined by Dorfman’s multimedia staging, which surrounds the live dancers with documentary footage, photo collages and projected text.
Meanwhile, the soundtrack combines a commissioned score by Bessie Award winner Jonathan Bepler with songs by the groups M83 and Broken Social Scene.
Dorfman, born in 1956, was raised in a working-class suburb of Chicago. A high-school athlete who played baseball and football, he earned a bachelor of science in business administration degree in 1977 from Olin Business School as well as a master of fine arts degree in dance from Connecticut College in 1981.
David Dorfman Dance, founded in 1985, has performed extensively in New York City and throughout North and South America, Great Britain and Europe. Most recently the company toured “underground” in Russia and Poland.
Among Dorfman’s numerous awards and recognitions are a 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award from Olin Business School; the 2007 Martha Hill Fund for Dance’s Mid-Career Award; and a 2005 Guggenheim Foundation fellowship.
Other honors include four fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, three New York Foundation for the Arts fellowships and an American Choreographer’s Award.
In 2004, Dorfman joined the faculty of Connecticut College as the William Meredith Professor of Dance and department chair. In 2007, the college named David Dorfman Dance as its permanent company-in-residence.
Tickets for “underground” are $20 for students and children; $28 for faculty, staff and seniors; and $32 for the public. They are available at the Edison Theatre box office and through all MetroTix outlets.
For more information, call 935-6543 or e-mail edison@wustl.edu.
Dance with Dorfman
Prior to the Edison Theatre performance of “underground,” choreographer and WUSTL alumnus David Dorfman — who has dedicated much of his career to the poetry of untrained dancers — will enlist 15-30 St. Louisans to serve as a kind of dance chorus.
Auditions will take place from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, in the Annelise Mertz Dance Studio. (Dancers with scheduling conflicts due to Rosh Hashanah may make separate arrangements.)
For more information about the auditions, call Jen Killion at 935-4478 or e-mail jkillion@wustl.edu.
In addition, Dorfman and company members will lead a series of master classes and other residency activities Sept. 22-25 for the Dance Program in the Performing Arts Department (PAD) in Arts & Sciences.
Dorfman also will present a free public master class at 11 a.m. Sept. 26 in the Annelise Mertz Dance Studio. For more information, contact the PAD at 935-5858 or visit padarts.wustl.edu.