Knight Arts – “Ghost Opera” a GroundWorks DanceTheater Masterpiece

By Roger Durbin, Knight Arts

Reviews of GroundWorks DanceTheater (a Knight Arts grantee) over the years (my own included) have talked about how the company has created important contemporary dance pieces. Important doesn’t always mean serious, either, for artistic director David Shimotakahara and associate Amy Miller have made some fun and lively dances.

This time, however, in setting a work to the music of Tan Dun and his “Ghost Opera,” which was performed for the Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival on August 1-2, David Shimotakahara has landed on what needs to be described as a master work. Everything works together – music, dance, lighting, costumes, and the set arrangement (from the inclusion of musicians on all parts of the stage through the use of some eastern kind of design with large white ribbons).

Before the performance host David Lieberth and Shimotakahara had a small discussion about what the audience would see. It was not to be a narrative, but rather a journey, as Shimotakahara noted. The dancers would represent spiritual essences – like the etherealness of animals, people, serpents and the like. It was to be a dreamlike place.

Tun’s music adds to those notions, with the use of dripping water, breathing, exotic instruments and human meditative chant to underscore the seeming directionless dancers. At times the sounds were wispy and the dancers light; at others, there were sharper, harsher, more laborious rhythms with a dancer (like Annika Sheaff at one point) walking with a box between her legs and later swirling around it on her stomach.
The pas de deux with Damien Highfield and Felise Bagley was absolutely exquisite. Emotions exuded from the interplay of these dancers, making the section almost breathtaking to see.

As the piece progressed, the dancers would seem to lapse almost effortlessly into a rhythmic pulse and use floating arms as transitions within the dance – something seemingly new to this company and refreshing to watch.

“Ghost Opera” was presented in cooperation with Chamberfest Cleveland in celebration of the 175th anniversary of Glendale Cemetery, where this performance was held. It turned out to be a great spot for an ethereal, evocative, and spiritual work.

Also on the bill was “Hindsight,” a work choreographed by guest dance maker Lynn Taylor-Corbett. The work is a paean to Akron native Chrissie Hynde (and the Pretenders). The six-part dance featured works such as “My City Was Gone” (a Hynde musical comment on the Rust Belt syndrome that affected Midwest cities as shown in images projected on a large upstage screen); a dark dance duet to “I’ll Stand by You,” featuring dancers Damien Highfield and Felise Bagley; along with other songs like “Roselee,” with its sexual tensions and seductive qualities showing in the dance.

“Hindsight” is sure to remain a standard part of the GroundWorks DanceTheater repertoire. It is a highly accessible work and a definite audience pleaser. The ending section, “Brass in Pocket,” features a photo of Hynde.

Here’s to Groundworks coming back next year for the dance festival.