Rituals, As Seen by Chanti Wadge

After one week in residence at Tangente, Chanti Wadge has started to present just beings, a work that will continue to evolve until its last presentation on April 6. There were still a few weaknesses when I went to the premiere on Thursday, but also more than enough gripping moments to make it a show worth seeing.

Tall members of the audience knocked their head on the tacky chimes hanging in the doorway upon their entrance in the space. Musician Michel F. Côté is already roaming around the room, filling it with the ominous sound of his bow sliding across an aquaphone. The lights dim and when they come back up, two creatures wearing little more than an old sorcerer’s mask are sitting onstage. One of them attempts to pick up long sticks with her toes. When she manages the task and proceeds to strike them against a box, we realize that they are matches. Eventually she succeeds in lighting one and lowers the flame in a metallic bowl. But the match itself is still on fire and she shakes her foot violently in an effort to douse the flame before it burns her toes, causing laughter to erupt in the audience. The chimes and the fire are two of the first ritualistic signs that the audience encounters, but definitely not the last.

Luciane Pinto in Chanti Wadge’s just beings

Dancer Luciane Pinto is wearing her mask backwards and it forces us too reconsider the body, which looks as if it is unfolding against its own articulations. The two performers retain a non-human movement even as they lose the masks, moving their body in curves along their spine, adopting a more reptilian shape. And, as is common in Wadge’s work, the voice of the performers comes through; one word at a time, they sound out “What are you talking about?” before moving into coughing, laughter, and crying. Her playful work with vocalization is a lot more effective than when it turns into a concrete text, which are the weakest parts of the show and create ruptures in the otherwise tangible mood created.

Choreographically, the best section is a solo performed by Wadge. She dives into floor work with great speed, energy, and agility. During this dance, Pinto changes into a human peacock, a half-circle of long feathers adorning her back. But again, her spoken word puts a damper on the experience.

Luckily, Wadge keeps the best for last. She comes out wearing a red kimono, walking over and unrolling a sheet of paper that reaches the front of the stage, which she covers in black paint with a giant brush. When she reaches the front of the stage herself, she sits down and unpacks various knickknacks (a figurine of Buddha, one of the Virgin Mary, new age crystals, bells, even a bowl with red fish) for the ritual she is about to perform. To maintain a few pleasant surprises, I will not reveal what happens next, but in this scene Wadge fully reclaims her playfulness and wit in a parody of (the exoticization of) rituals that, by itself, may very well make just beings worth seeing. It definitely has made me curious enough to want to go see it again at the end of its run to see how the work will have evolved.

just beings continues until April 6 at Tangente. Regular tickets are 16$, 13 for students. For more information, call 514.525.1500.