A Jog, A Skip, and a Jump

“Trellis”

BigManArts

Abrons Arts Center

New York, NY

April 22, 2010

By Martha Sherman

Copyright © 2010 by Martha Sherman

Lawrence Goldhuber runs against time. In “Trellis,” his new work at Abrons Arts Center, he and the dancers of BigManArts did a lot of jogging, but little traveling, as the dancers moved toward places or connections just beyond reach. The jogging steps served as engines, moving the many short vignettes (and a few longer scenes) framed by blackouts that propelled the piece forward. It was a work of simple images and music, filled with solitary yearning, but punctuated with humor and moments of joy.

Each dancer started with a jogging solo, beginning with Goldhuber whose large body filled the beam and post trellis in the center of the stage. Looking directly at the audience, he jogged in place, and – after the first blackout – around the trellis. He was joined by Sari Peterson, who took her own solo and was joined by the third of their trio, Roy Fialkow. The dancers moved in small tight patterns, arms spread but still close to their sides, small parallel kicks and twirls, at first ignoring each other as partners, eventually connecting.

In Peterson’s first duet with Goldhuber, her movement was all clean ballet, proportioned to match the other snug movements of this dance. She is tall, but moved her long legs and arms with ease in the small boundaries of trellis and stage. Goldhuber sat on the outer seat of the trellis, ignoring her and reading a paper (as if life were passing by) as Peterson reached for him through her movement. The soundtrack, “To know him is to love him,” was the first country tune of several; this was not a subtle message. Neither were any of the subsequent songs, but each was simply suited to the eager pining of a neglected lover, a bit sardonic for a sophisticated audience, but gently so. We smiled to hear the tunes, to remember those times, and to identify. The dancers often smiled, too, sometime wistfully, sometimes happily.

In this love triangle, each couple had duets, the pairs circling the trellis alone and together, then working through their particular demons. Fialkow courted Peterson as she had Goldhuber in the first duet. Fialkow hid behind the beams of the trellis, perched high, to watch her graceful movement. Also dismissive at first, Peterson was eventually won as Fialkow helped her gather the discarded newspapers that suggested her own days passing. He presented the papers back floating them toward her like wings, and finally persuaded her to dance.

The male duet had the most tension; Fialkow was trapped in Goldhuber’s ample lap, caught tightly by an outstretched arm, and finally slung over Goldhuber’s back. Their movements around the trellis became matching parallel arms, legs, and bends, and finally Fialkow stopped fighting the attraction and connection.

Throughout the piece, country music traded off with a new music and sound mix by Geoff Gersh, electronic sounds of wind and whoosh, or simple Cage-like repetitions of short phrases that framed the more serious work in these relationships. Each song (most from Skeeter Davis, one credited to the Teddy Bears,)  had an unambiguous country rhythm and accompanied the movement in strict driving beats. In the most satisfying musical match,  the trio danced to “Cabin on the Hill,” the dancers parading, crouching, and saluting each other and the audience. Their do-si-do, when it finally came, was no surprise. The three wove around each other in the skipping braid of a square dance. It was celebration that softly continued when the songs trailed off. In the moments before the final blackout, as they jogged around the trellis one more time, a fourth uncredited dancer joined them, another person to incorporate into life and relationship.

The lighting and trellis set were designed by Goldhuber’s collaborator of 24 years, Gregory L. Bain. It was a stage within a stage, a simple house-like structure covered with vines on the small classical proscenium stage of the Henry Street Settlement House. The scale of the setting focused all of our attention at its center. Bain’s lighting provided timing and pacing as surely as the music did. 

Goldhuber is a large man and a very graceful one, and he anchors his work through both of those attributes along with his generous sense of humor and irony. By keeping the scale of the set and the movement so tight, BigManArts offered universal ideas, gently and intimately. We were lucky to be invited.

copyright © 2010 by Martha Sherman

Photos of “Trellis” by Julie Lemberger

Top: Lawrence Goldhuber 

Middle: Sari Peterson

Bottom: Lawrence Goldhuber and Roy Fialkow