Long Live the Queen

“Mo(or)town/Redux,” “Scott, Queen of Marys”
Doug Elkins Choreography Etc.,
Baryshnikov Arts Center
New York, NY
December 5, 2012

by Leigh Witchel
copyright © 2012 by Leigh Witchel

It takes talent, and a little bit of nuttiness, to combine Scottish folk dance and voguing. But Doug Elkins has that kind of imagination, and “Scott, Queen of Marys” made a welcome return to New York after 16 years absence.

It's part of Elkins' slow, tentative return to New York dance as well. He started as a breakdancer in the 80s and found his way into contemporary dance. Elkins disbanded his original company a decade ago; it's been sorely missed. In 2006 he created as an ad hoc project “Fraulein Maria,” an affectionate dance parody of “The Sound of Music” that's been performed, often chocked full of downtown guest stars. It's a charming trifle, but six years is a long time.

“Scott, Queen of Marys,” made back in '94, is a crazy half-hour of things that shouldn't go together, but do. Five women, three men and voguing champion Javier Ninja line up and strut, but also do traditional folk steps, holding hands across their shoulders as they pair off and prance. The connection between the bouncy folk steps and the showy house dance is gender: all the rules are cheerfully broken. Men powder their faces, women grab their crotches as the men grind their butts into them. But it's as joyous as it is rebellious.

The other thing that pulls it all together is Ninja. He's thin with killer cheekbones, and he can distort his torso and spidery limbs like a pretzel. In 1996, there were two voguers; one was his mentor Willi Ninja and the other Adrian Xtravaganza. Defying all expectations, Willi Ninja was also a team player, fierce and virtuosic, but also melding into the cast sweetly. Javier chose a more stereotypical diva persona – a  seasoned veteran of “vogue battles.” When he stopped, turned, popped his hip and beveled his foot, pursed his lips and looked one of the women up and down critically, he threw more shade than a forest.

But the rest of the cast held its own. Curly-haired Joshua Palmer infused his role with the insinuating looseness of a club dancing. Tall Kyle Marshall, tasked with hauling Ninja about, got a porteur's ultimate revenge: telegraphing his boredom and having none of the drama, applauding Ninja sarcastically after yet another contortion.

The other work on the bill, “Mo(or)town/Redux” has a juxtaposition with even more inherent logic – telling the story of Othello via Motown hits. Yet it was more problematic. Made originally in 1990 and reworked this year, Elkins is taking as much from Shakespeare as he is from Jose Limon. The neat quadrilles on stage, the fatal handkerchief – it helps as much to know “The Moor's Pavane” as it does “Othello.”

The soundtrack mix has plenty of favorites, many are exactly what you'd expect - “Just my Imagination” for Othello's seeds of doubt, or “Try a Little Tenderness” for the fatal duet. But there are twists – the Four Tops sing “I Can't Help Myself,” only in Italian, and Othello imagines Desdemona's infidelity to “I Heard it Through the Grapevine”, but an a capella version.

Yet Shakespeare's story of calumny and jealousy doesn't get told.  Marshall as Othello and Alexadner Dones as Iago, both vivid in “Scott,” have little character here beyond dap greetings, and their dancing is good, but not enough to carry the story. Marshall remains stoic throughout. It's effective in his final duet with Donnell Oakley as Desdemona. His face becomes a mask, but you can sense the pain. His anger is even more dangerous because he won't let it out. Dones is even more opaque; we might know from familiarity with the story, but we never learn from him why he's doing this to Othello, and everyone is dancing better than they act.

The dancing is swinging lifts mixed with breakdance moves and a little ballet thrown in for Dones in a good solo, but there's no motivation. Both pieces end abruptly, “Mo(or)town” immediately after Desdemona's murder, with no confession from Emilia or comeuppance for Iago.

Still, “Mo(or)town” doesn't need revision as much as coaching – and “Scott” deserves a costume budget. It's a welcome return of one of downtown's most enjoyable choreographers, whose greatest talent is taking street dance and turning it into serious choreography.

copyright © 2012 by Leigh Witchel

Photos by Julieta Cervantes

Top: Javier Ninja in “Scott, Queen of Marys”
Middle: Kyle Marshall and Javier Ninja in “Scott Queen of Marys”
Bottom: Kyle Marshall and Alexander Dones in “Mo(or)town/Redux”