Moving to the Minimalist Sway of Fase

To enjoy the music of minimalist composer Steve Reich is to be brought one step closer to appreciating Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s choreography for Fase, Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich. In fact, Fase can be seen as a visual representation of Reich’s music through the movement of the body. The dance is also minimalist and thrives on repetition. In both instances, the effect is hypnotic.

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s “Piano Phase”, photo by Herman Sorgeloos

De Kersmaeker and her fellow dancer Tale Dolven wear simple clothes and shoes that only vary in tone from white to a light grey. Two spotlights slightly turned inwards cast the performers’ shadows on a white background: to each their own shadow, plus an overlapping one that meets in the double intensity of its blackness.

The first movement is set to “Piano Phase”. There is a real symbiosis with the music; the movement remains simple and is at first built upon synchronization between the dancers. But soon there is a slight lag in their movement and instead of being duplications of each other they become mirror images.

The choreography almost solely takes place on the horizontal line, with only a few excursions on the vertical line to move it to three different planes across the stage. The movement is so repetitive and performed with such ease that it looks as though they could perform it without thinking, as if it had now been assimilated to the memory of their body.

Though it uses similar motifs, “Come Out” has a very different feel as the dancers are now sitting on stools. They perform the same movements, but not simultaneously. However, their gestures still often end up meeting.

Despite the performers’ anchored position, it is the most violent section. In order to move, the upper body must fight the stasis of the lower body, creating tension where they hinge, at the waist. Also, their arms often hit their waist and legs.

“Violin Phase” is the only solo, danced by De Keersmaeker. This piece is based on a circular pattern, where she rotates across her own body as well as across a circle delimited by light. At first she only revolves on the circumference, which is highly reminiscent of a clock. When she begins to cut across by scurrying along the radii, it comes across as a desire to defy time. The movement becomes freer and more playful as she lifts her skirt and bends down to hit the floor.

The evening pleasantly ends with the percussive piece “Clapping Music”. Both performers bounce back and forth, sometimes slowing their momentum almost down to a standstill as they land on the tip of their toes. There is a playful relationship between the music and the dance that is contagious.

Fase is not the kind of work that is affecting on an emotional level, but if you’re the kind to enjoy the hypnotic sways of minimalism, this show is definitely worth checking out.

If you want to catch Fase at Usine C before it ends, tonight, Thursday, January 31, is your last chance since the Friday presentation is already sold out. For more information, call 514.521.4493.

PREVIEW Jocelyne Montpetit’s Faune continues at Agora de la danse until February 9. For more information, call 514.525.1500.