Leaving Us in the Dark

“Panorama”

Paige Martin

Danspace Project

New York, NY

April 10, 2010

By Martha Sherman

Copyright © 2010 by Martha Sherman

Dance constituted only a small percentage of the almost two-and-a-half hour “Panorama,” Paige Martin’s contribution to Platform 2010: Back to New York City, curated by Juliette Mapp for Danspace. The work offered a three-part evening, including a short outdoor prelude, a lingering party punctuated by brief naked performances, and a second lingering segment, a blast in the dark introduced by a mini-lecture. The long interludes were more boring than challenging by the time we dribbled out, but Martin had delivered panoramas of sexually charged movement and used the evening to make a strong, if not convincing, statement about the responsibility of an audience for its own amusement.

“Panorama” opened in the courtyard of St. Mark’s Church. Two women balanced in deep diagonals suspended from the church’s iron gates and looked like the twin prows of two ancient ships. Two men danced on the stone walk below, a mirrored duet of strong leaps and curled lunges, partnering each other and the women angled above them. The inspired decision to move into the neighboring garden (which Martin introduced inaccurately as a “dumb design, but how I did it,”) took advantage not only of the glorious space, but also of the beautiful April dusk. 

As the audience lined up against the church’s outer stone wall, the garden came alive to Led Zeppelin’s 1969 rock classic, “Baby, I’m Gonna Leave You.” The arrayed dancers moved in private combinations of glides, jumps, and lifts. The program credited 36 performers; there was no way of telling how many actually were hidden among the greenery. Three Shaolin masters were among the garden dancers, and continued in elegant martial poses long after the audience had been given instructions for entry into the sanctuary. The less than 15-minute outdoor segment was a beautifully wrought mini-celebration of nature and offered a panoramic balance between individual and shared movement. It felt completely decoupled with the rest of the evening, but was a delight.

The remainder of the evening was a slow wander through a cocktail party, punctuated by lots of nakedness. Entering St. Mark’s Church, light panels of cloth funneled us into a white shrouded womb. At the narrow entrance, we were greeted and squeezed between our nude hosts, diminutive Martin and her statuesque  co-host, Luke Miller. With many kisses and naked hugs, the guests were squeezed into the open space of the church floor. A bar was set up, where the audience members were welcomed with wine and water throughout the evening. The very apt set piece in the center of the room was a 20 foot high salmon fabric-wrapped phallus. To the side was a life-sized sculpture of a tiger tearing at a pile of raw flesh. 

Eventually, the salmon phallus was disassembled into two seating benches, and the crowd quieted. Martin entered, still naked but now trailing a pastel sheet. She lay on the ground with legs splayed in the yogic cobbler’s pose, a diamond formed with feet pressed against each other, and moved in a dry swim. Two dancers entered covered in their own pastel sheets, burka-like, from head to navel. They joined Martin on the floor, and three undulating pairs of legs framed an attention-worthy trio of crotches. 

In a third and last short dance scene, eighteen bare-breasted women entered to form a straight line. Each dancer wore a colorful bottom half, including a pair of eye-catching shorts made of an American flag, several boldly colored and designed harem pants (one with a feather up its back), and one wide white crinoline underslip. The chorus line of breasts moved, each  individually: shivering, shaking, swaying and swirling. A few languorous movements wended down the line, including crossover hands and a parade of turns, and gave this segment a shape with a refreshing sense of beginning and ending.

In the final act, a short lecture/demonstration about light and darkness preceded a long silent black-out. Within minutes, people were using their cellphones for light (or text messages) and were taking flash photos (welcomed throughout the program.) Eventually, people started leaving. When the lights finally came up, Martin and the dancers wandered back in for more chatting, and visited with what was left of the much diminished house.

It was hard not to like these performers. Their desire for us to enter their world was genuine and engaging, but the refusal to be framed in temporal borders got old long before we were finished. Martin offered performance as experience, and not all experiences are as interesting as others, although her charged punctuation scenes were engrossing. After the promising early glimpse in the garden, I left with the regret that I’ve attended better parties.

copyright © 2010 by Martha Sherman

Photos by: Dawn Blackman

Top: Felicia Ballos carried by Antonio Ramos, Luke Miller, Jessie Gold and Biba Bell in “Panorama” 

Middle: Paige Martin in “Panorama”

Bottom: "Panorama"