Review- Stripteaser- CCDC
7-9-12
City Contemporary Dance Company's Stripteaser is a brave effort. It is a blending of two different mediums (fashion and dance) into a night of entertainment. The show is broken down into 4 parts with each part being created by a different team of designers/ choreographers. New talent is always something to encourage in the arts. So I give serious credit to CCDC for giving these budding artists a chance to show their stuff. It would be unfair of me to group them all together as each piece is so incredibly different. So I will break down each one individually.
1. Inside Out
"Rush, rush. Gush-n-go. Charge it up fast and flip it quick. It's the mix and never the match. Inside or outside, and oh so reversible. You'll find another me."
Choreographer: Noel Pong
Designer: Kay Wong @daydream nation
A French chic piece, it had a lot of whimsy to it in the opening ten minutes of the production. I thought Pong used the space well as she was the only one to use the house right balcony as dance space. I enjoyed the fashion design of this piece, as the fashion was fully integrated into the piece. I struggled to see what the meaning of the piece was but it was beautifully executed by the company. I think this piece seemed to be the most challenging physically. Every dancer had to do something different which made it very interesting to watch and probably challenging to choreograph.
2. The 3.5th Dimension
"Wearing our flesh for fun - in space, time, and across multiple dimensions."
Choreographers: Justyne Li and Wong Tan-ki
Hands down the weirdest dance piece I have ever seen. I actually had to go ask the choreographer what it was about. Imagine this if you will: white, alien like space suits on the dancers. They are exploring the shapes of movement in an evolutionary way and then suddenly they turn into cats and watch an imaginary tennis ball for a few minutes. WTF? Oh wait... It gets weirder! After the part where they were kittens, one of the men took off all his clothes and proceeded to enact a dance that resembled an epileptic fit on the floor. Then at the end everyone died and was reborn. I give the choreographers a lot of credit for creating something as bold as this piece. However, it left me and about half the audience really confused.
PS- According to the choreographer it's about reincarnation.
3. Dress Me Down
"Say so long to gentility. Today's fashion and dance are all about power play- but watch out- the catwalk is anything but a level playing field."
Choreographer: Bruce Wong
Designer: Kenax Leung
I enjoyed this piece very much for several reasons. I liked that the message was easy to understand. I liked it was long enough for me to understand the story but short enough to leave me wanting more. A BDSM inspired number about power in relationships was excellently designed by Kenax Leung. I loved his use of non-traditional materials in the costumes. The way Mr. Wong had choreographed the movements with the chair was something I had never seen before. Overall, an excellent start to the second act of the production.
4. Fighter
"The parade. The procession. The protest. The rebellion. It's the style of the people raising their voices and speaking out."
Choreographer: Victor Fung
Designer: Aries Sin @modement
This piece was my favorite of the evening. I thought the blending of the two art forms was really perfectly suited. I really enjoyed the tension created by the dancers during the rebellion. Victor Fung used contrast in an interesting way as we switched between the hard/soft and happy/sad/angry in an effective manner. I also enjoyed his use of the space. His parade choreography was very funny. The millinery designs by Chan Kin Tak were also the icing on the cake as they added a level of whimsy to the piece that was well appreciated.
Overall
The dancers that made up the cast of this production were very talented. The lighting designer, Goh Boon Ann also deserves special credit for designing four separate shows that had their own unique look. His lighting was well thought out and created some beautiful moments within each individual piece. The program and marketing designer should also get some serious credit for making one of the most exquisitely laid out programs and well designed ad campaigns I have seen. It was really quite beautiful and a piece of art unto itself.
Congrats to the young talents at CCDC for putting on a thought provoking evening of dance. I have never seen some of the things presented to me this evening which is a good thing. New things should be celebrated in art- even if I don't understand them at first.
Comments
Julie
This show was so fucking strange. I didn't like any of them but the last one.
12 September 2012Hope
This show was really weird. The cat piece was so bad.
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