McGloin's Alive

By Susan Skrzycki

"Alive"
Aaron McGloin Dance
Tempe Center for the Arts
January 29-30th, 2010

Aaron McGloin Dance and guests put on a sumptuous tour-de-force of McGloin’s past and present work, including two pieces from his college days at ASU. The end product was mercurial yet substantial, playful yet poignant, and mature well beyond McGloin’s 24 years. McGloin’s early work demonstrates that he already possessed a rare choreographic and musical sophistication as a student. The evening’s minor misfortunes occurred within the less personal and therefore less focused works that mimicked the styles of so many old-timers like Twyla Tharpe and Paul Taylor. Yet the concert offered far more hits than misses.

The program’s focal points were encompassed in most of McGloin’s repertory and a delightful collaborative piece by Kristin Tovson and Dancers.

“You Are My Lobster,” a charmingly disjointed and whimsical duet by Aaron McGloin danced by Lucio Abruzzi and Nicole Grabianowski featured music by The Magnetic Fields. McGloin says he came up with the music and concept for each section while taking a red-eye flight to Maine for the Bates Dance Festival during the summer of 2008. He then completed and premiered the work for Aaron McGloin Dance’s first concert in Arizona in December 2008 where it was voted the audience favorite.

McGloin choreographed and performed a devastatingly beautiful solo, “Ruination,” with an artistry and kinetic intelligence that could not be overlooked. McGloin’s complete technical prowess, physical beauty and effortless grace were spellbinding in this profoundly abstract work set to the music of Telegraph Melts. Moody lighting design by Carolyn Koch made this piece additionally memorable. This was the first time during the concert that the house was dead quiet and all attention was focused on stage. Even the chattering ladies behind me were captivated for this dance from start to finish. “Ruination” left me feeling mildly gut-punched and wanting much more. I was astounded to learn that McGloin created this monumental work during his senior year at ASU.

By contrast “Interlocking Pieces,” a group piece also choreographed by McGloin was a bright and bouncy number that showed off the dancers’ athleticism without much need for concept. The second movement was more focused and interesting than the first; this piece could well have begun in the middle. This dance was also born during McGloin’s time at ASU, “It's about the many types of relationships we all have and how we play different roles based on each unique situation,” McGloin explained.

“Hello (Some Thoughts on Performance)” by Kristin Tovson and Dancers was an unforgettably humorous performance piece with an equally unique soundtrack using music from Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, E.L.O. and AIR. Tovson’s decidedly postmodern sensibility showed in the choice of street clothes, use of silence and cardboard signs stating things like, “Hello,” “How are you?” and “We’re fine.” After a sign carrier gave verbal cues for lights and sound, spastic movement ensued to the Mr. Rogers theme. Much of Tovson’s choreography relied heavily on facial expressions, comedic timing and subtle acting techniques while advanced movement craft, use of stillness, counterpoint and non sequitur were skillfully employed. The satirical insight into performers neurotic thought processes and self-image questions was extremely well played. McGloin shared, “This was a highly collaborative process starting with Kristin working with the dancers in July 2009. After she moved to Berlin in August we continued to work by sending videos and notes back and forth online until we reached the final product in late December.”

McGloin said that for the program’s namesake, “Alive,” the title came first and he “filled in the details from there.” He added, “The piece is about experiences that make us feel alive, and I tried to approach the music and design of each section from an unusual perspective.” Indeed, this ambitious, multi-faceted work with eight distinct sections was all about the details. Unfortunately, the program didn’t list the eight sections, but after overhearing the dancers refer to various movements by name in the lobby post-performance, McGloin filled me in. The eight sections were specifically: Creation, Development, Timeline/Lifeline, Lust, Love, Loss, Fear/Anger/Epiphany/Acceptance, and Joy. The musical score was every bit as diverse as the variety of choreographic styles McGloin successfully employed, a testament to the breadth of his artistic chops. A notable aside: McGloin personally designed and constructed all but one of the dresses worn in “Alive.”

Weaker moments in the program included “Back to Basics,” where dancers clad in white undies, t-shirts and socks executed quintessential straight-faced balletic modern dance to a score by Bach. The aforementioned and admittedly drunk ladies seated behind me repeatedly whispered the same question incessantly throughout this dance: “What’s the story line here?” None of them had an answer. Although some audience members were disruptive, their commentary pointed to a certain lack of choreographic focus in this piece, for they were immediately silent and attentive during the stronger works. (Far be it from me to suggest that there should be a “story line” in this or any dance piece.) But it was interesting that the same, previously flummoxed people were eager to applaud and voiced no questions during other, far more abstract and challenging works in the show. Being familiar with McGloin’s immense talent, I found this piece disappointing in both this and a Conder/dance concert earlier in the season. It looked too much like so many others’ work in the last forty years and not enough like McGloin; he doesn’t need this sort of standard modern dance filler in his concerts.

McGloin’s body of work is intuitive, substantial and lucid, with a demonstrated understanding of repetition, stillness, variety and humor. Additionally, he seems to be an effective director, something few dancers can manage, particularly at a young age. One cannot help but expect a bright career to unfold as McGloin makes his mark in the dance world.

McGloin and his partner, Lucio Abruzzi plan to move to New York City this summer to continue their career, but not before giving one last concert in Arizona. Be sure to catch Body Movement April 17th, 2010 at ASU's Dance Studio Theater, 7:30pm. At this rate, Aaron McGloin and company will undoubtedly make an impact on the national dance scene in the near future.

For more information please visit www.aaronmcgloindance.com.