Underground Passage
A thesis concert to complete my MFA degree in Dance with a Concentration in Choreography at the University of Maryland College Park. Underground Passage is a site-specific dance set in the Grand Pavilion stairway at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. It was performed December 13, 2005 by Nilay Arioz, Autumn Mist Belk, Shannon Connell, and Eliza Larson.
The dance begins with a rejection. Autumn Mist Belk is kicked from the top of the Grand Pavilion by a pair of legs. These legs form a sort of entryway, flanked by columns, that registers a starting point and a destination. It immediately, I think, suggests the birth canal, placing this work in the context of familial relationships.
Autumn tumbles down the stairs in a series of ongoing phrases, adding up to one long Impulsive Phrase. She falls into and out of Passion Drive, with Quick Time, Strong Weight, and Free Flow. She is caught up in the act, her emotions engulfing her. She rolls herself out, catching on a lower stair, and comes to stillness.
The music begins. It starts with long, low tones, grounding, stabilizing. A spool of white melts down from Mother’s legs. It unrolls in long phrases punctuated by long stillnesses. Nilay Arioz is undulating in Shape Flow. She Extends out and then Flexes in with Navel Radiation. She is at an early stage of child development, riveted by the movements of her muscles, her wobbling organs, initiating from core.
Finally, her limbs start to prick out of the fabric. Nilay becomes aware of Space. She branches out with more Spatial Intent. She is Bridging into her world, trying to make contact.
She makes contact. She sights Autumn on the terrace below her with Direct Space. This moment has a strong accent. They hold each other with their eyes, Bridging with their torsos. They break eye contact, but never cease the connection. They move toward each other with Spatial Intent.
Just as they are about to make contact, Eliza Larson enters the phrase. The duet becomes a trio. She Bridges to Nilay through the umbilical cord, pulling back, giving Nilay support as she hangs over Autumn. The phrases are shorter now, and usually Swing. Autumn and Nilay are Shaping and Bridging to each other. Mother Bridges to Nilay through the fabric, giving support, essentially cradling her. Nilay casts a spell on Autumn. With Bound Flow, Direct Space, and Strong Weight, Nilay uses Spell Drive to mesmerize Autumn. Autumn is drawn in, but retains a sense of self, which comes through in Strong Direct Spoking, Stable State. They finally become entangled in one another and the fabric. In an Impulsive Phrase, Eliza unrolls them with Quick Time and Free Flow, Mobile State. Autumn and Nilay crash on the stairs, waves breaking. They cycle here, rolling up the stairs with Time and Weight, Binding into stillness, then slipping down with Passive Weight.
At the top, the third child, Shannon Connell, enters. She rocks in place with High Intensity Flow Fluctuations. She moves in short, Impactive Phrases, Shape Flow with Direct Quick Accents. Shannon is primarily in the Vertical Dimension, rocking High to Low, Lengthening and Shortening.
Shannon Catches sight of Autumn and starts Bridging, Spoking along the Vertical Dimension with Direct Space and rebounding from Light to Strong Weight, Stable State. The two have a tug of war on the umbilical cord. They climb along the cord to face off. Shannon squashes Autumn with Extreme Strong Weight and Direct Space. But Autumn fights her way back, with an Action Drive Press to Left High. The two meet shoulder to shoulder, Bridging against each other. This antagonistic Bridging continues as they shift position. Locked at the wrist, Autumn Spokes Right High, Shannon Spokes Right Low. They are each trying to affect the other, to drag the other in their respective Direction. They create a Countertension that is finally resolved when Nilay splits them by creating a wall with the fabric.
The fabric covers Shannon; it presses against Autumn. Autumn and Eliza slowly Rise, approaching each other with Direct Space. In a long, Impactive Phrase, Eliza circles Autumn, binding her in the fabric, each adding Bound Flow to Direct Space, Remote State. They are wary of each other. Finally, Eliza casts a spell on Autumn by adding Strong Weight to the mix, pulling Autumn down into a huddle, Ball Shape, on the stairs. Autumn pulls away in a phrase that starts with some Quick Time. She Spokes away from Eliza, Eliza Spokes toward Autumn, recapturing Spell Drive, Strong Direct Bound, grappling Autumn toward her knee. Eliza lays Autumn’s head on her knee, carefully puts a hand to her head, Light Direct Bound. The two have a truce; Autumn is momentarily tamed.
Nilay and Shannon now begin their duet. Shannon Rises Place High with Strong Weight, a Disaffinity. She is straining against the umbilical cord, testing her boundaries. Nilay, the peacemaker, draws her back down in a Ball Shape. These are medium-sized Swing Phrases characterized by Countertensions. Nilay and Shannon Bridge apart, stretching the fabric, then Bridge together, expanding and condensing. It represents the tumultuous relationship of siblings, the love and hate, the ferocity and camaraderie.
Interrupting this duet, Autumn breaks free from Mother. Autumn Advances with Quick Time (Disaffinity) Free Flow and Strong Weight, a return to Passion Drive, launching herself up the stairs and away. Eliza tries to snatch her back, wadding up the umbilical cord, now empty.
Nilay and Shannon’s duet resolves similarly. Shannon breaks into Near State, Strong Quick to Strong Sustained, a variation on the earlier Flow Fluctuations. She jerks free from the fabric, which is no longer tied to her waist, and Bridges out of Nilay’s trailing hands. Shannon bucks down the stairs, returning to Shape Flow Flow Fluctuations, Accented with Quick Time Bridging. She rejects her family.
Eliza’s Lament begins. It’s a slow descent down the stairs, built of short, Diminished Impulsive Phrases. Eliza wraps herself in the umbilical cord, mummifying herself in despair. She is Shaping to the stairs and to the fabric. Her Phrase starts with Diminished Strong Quick, Near State, as she sets herself moving, then resolves in Bound Flow and Indirect Space, Remote State. To me, this reads as pain flares, followed by regression to numbness. She meets Nilay, Shaping to her, sharing some of her emotion.
Nilay rescues Eliza. In an Impulsive Phrase, with Action Drive, Direct Stong Quick, Nilay rips Eliza out of her cocoon. They begin a Shaping duet in Near Space, roving down the stairs, emphasizing Effort Flow. At ground level, they catch up to Shannon, becoming a trio. Their family unit continues as the lights fade. They are no longer tied to each other physically by the umbilical cord, but they retain their connection.
Outside, the piece concludes. Autumn has a long Even Phrase outside. She ascends a grassy hill, completing her upward journey from the bottom of the stairs. Her arms slowly abduct Peripherally through Vertical Plane from Side Low to Side High. She maintains an almost Still Form, a Wall. At the top of the ridge, her kimono drops and Autumn disappears. She has transformed, trading her substance for thin air. She is free.
I am extremely satisfied by this dance. I think the narrative is complete, intuitive, and clear. I think the imagery is intriguing and, at times, striking. I think the layered images of emotion and nature complement each other. We have a dance about raw family relationships, a portrait of a family that knows betrayal and hostility. The characters are distinct and colorful. They hurt and they succor. They hate and love. They are complex. The metaphor of a tunnel is apt. They are on a journey together. They are in transition. They flow through the journey like water, riding waves of emotion and conflict. At the end, the lost child makes her peace, exchanging a family for the world, a locus for infinity.
It had bothered me that the narrative is so melodramatic. I worried that it was too heavy-handed. Now I have come to see that a minimalist dance must almost necessarily be extreme. Otherwise, the changes would be overlooked. There may be exceptions to this, but I think it worked well in this instance. The subject matter was huge, but we treated it in an understated fashion. We treated weighty material delicately, approaching, I think, its essence.
There were other directions we could have taken the material, other choices we might have made. I am satisfied by the choices we made, however. I think we created a complete, moving piece. That’s as much as I had hoped.
Malcolm Shute
Photos by Jennifer Mueller