{"id":1998,"date":"2013-10-15T10:43:33","date_gmt":"2013-10-15T14:43:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/dancebeat\/?p=1998"},"modified":"2013-10-18T09:45:59","modified_gmt":"2013-10-18T13:45:59","slug":"three-men-their-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/dancebeat\/2013\/10\/three-men-their-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Men, Their World"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cloud Gate 2 presents On the Road<\/em> for an all-male trio. Three men from Pavel Zu\u0161tiak\/Palissimo Company perform Endangered Pieces<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Cloud<\/a>

Cloud Gate 2 in Cheng Tsun-lung’s On the Road<\/em>. (L to R): Chang Chien-Hao, Chiang Pao-Su, Luo Sih-Wei. Photo: Yi-Chun Wu<\/p><\/div>\n

Three men in a tub. Three Musketeers; The Three Stooges; Chico, Harpo, and Groucho Marx; the three sailors in Jerome Robbins\u2019s Fancy Free<\/em>. What can they not get up to in the way of adventure, comradeship, and rivalry? A while back, Cheng Tsun-lung, the associate artistic director or Taiwain\u2019s Cloud Gate 2, went on a trip with two other dancers, Chiang Pao-su and Luo Sih-wei. The result of this male-bonding experience, On The Road<\/em> (2011), winner of a major prize in Taiwan, was performed at the Joyce Theater, with Chiang and Luo joined by Chang Chien-Hao.<\/p>\n

Cloud Gate 2 was founded in 1999 by Lin Hwai-min, its current artistic director, and the late Lo Man-fei, but it doesn\u2019t serve as a feeder company for the world-famous Cloud Gate Dance Theatre. Instead, it challenges young choreographers to find their own voices and build a repertory for a small-scale touring group. Having presented a mixed bill at the Joyce in 2012, the reduced company returned with this evening-long work.<\/p>\n

The three men are warming up as the audience arrives. Chang is tall and rangy, Chiang short and sturdy. Lo, the silkiest mover, fits between them when they line up in a far corner in order of height. The house lights are still on when they progress across the back of the stage with perfectly synchronized little prances that gradually speed up. A plucked instrument begins to sound in Lin Fang-yi\u2019s selection of traditional Asian music. On the backdrop, a projection (designed by Ethan Wang) shows what could be a brooding sky or gray-blue water.<\/p>\n

\"Luo<\/a>

Luo Sih-Wei (L) and Chang Chien-Hao in On the Road<\/em>. Photo: Yi-Chun Wu<\/p><\/div>\n

Cheng\u2019s choreography is like a compilation of sights and sounds along the journey. Sometimes the men\u2019s steps suggest trekking. Sometimes they pause and stare into the distance. When one stands behind another, and they convey the image of a many-armed god like Avalokitesvara, is it because they have just passed a temple? When they undulate their arms and shoulders and curl their wrists, have they dropped in on a dance in a village festival? Occasionally, they hold up their hands like paws; did they just sight a squirrel? If one man crawls on his belly, are low-hanging branches the issue? Often two or all three dance in unison; on occasion, one manipulates another. They fight (or practice martial arts, or take in a street performance of Chinese opera, or. . . ?). Do I imagine a monkey? They play games, like getting stuck to one another.<\/p>\n

Shen Po-hong\u2019s lighting changes to indicate the changing hours. The behavior of the three is quite casual. Sometimes, they just walk to a new spot on the white-floored stage in order to begin a new activity. At one point, Chiang lies on his back, with his legs bent; Lo sits on Chiang\u2019s upraised knees and looks questioningly at Chang: what now? Whether performing alone, or paired, or all together, these dancers are compelling to watch\u2014as adept at delivering small, telling gestures and looks as they are at printing bold, clear-edged, resilient movement on the space. The variegated music matches their rhythms, whether directly or indirectly.<\/p>\n

\"Chiang<\/a>

Chiang Pao-Su and (at back) Chang Chien-Hao in On the Road<\/em>. Photo: Yi-Chun Wu<\/p><\/div>\n

You can glimpse what appear to be tattoos under the men\u2019s white t-shirts, but the designs are inked and begin to seep through the shirts (body painting concept by He Jia-sing). Maybe that\u2019s one reason that the performers stop after about 45 minutes of traveling and, in a corner of the stage, drink water, towel off, and replace their clothing with fresh white shirts and pants that duplicate costumer Lin Bing-hao\u2019s original color scheme (gray pants for Chiang, beige for Lo, black for Chang). Chang wipes a patch of sweat off the floor.<\/p>\n

There are mysteries. Why does Chiang pull his t-shirt up to mask his face and inch sideways along, during a dimly lit sequence that\u2019s accompanied by Tom Waits\u2019s gravelly voice singing, \u201cBut no one puts flowers\/On a flower\u2019s grave\u201d? Perhaps dreams are a part of this trek, as well as thoughts abour the transience of life and its possible renewal.<\/p>\n

Cultural differences may hinder my perception of On the Road<\/em>, but certain resonances come through vividly. They have to do with friendship and shared adventures and a robust sense of bodies at work and play.<\/p>\n

\"(L<\/a>

(L to R): Matthew Rogers, Jaro Vi\u0148arsk\u00fd, and Pavel Zu\u0161tiak of Palissimo in Zu\u0161tiak’s Endangered Pieces<\/em>. Photo: Yi-Chun Wu<\/p><\/div>\n

Pavel Zu\u0161tiak\/Palissimo Company\u2019s new Endangered Pieces<\/em> also features three men, but this is a work that defies easy interpretations and puts the audience somewhat on the spot. As with On the Road<\/em>, the front curtain of the Abrons Arts Center\u2019s stage is open when the audience enters. Our first glimpse of Zu\u0161tiak\u2019s world is a grim one. Three long iron poles on round bases are tipped over on their sides; a ghost light with its bare bulb stands front and center; the back wall, with its smudged and chipped paint, is visible, along with the black metal door that pulls down to conceal an alcove that may be part of a loading dock. Horizontal pipes of the kind made to hold lights or a curtain hang low over the area. To one side of the stage and toward the back, a naked man is lying, face up, immobile.<\/p>\n

The preparation is part of the performance. The metal door is pulled up to reveal the alcove, glowing in Joe Levasseur\u2019s lighting. Against its rear wall, lengths of board (maybe 1 x 3s) are stacked vertically. The arrangement resembles a miniature mockup of a modern city. Zu\u0161tiak unplugs the ghost light, coils its wire, and wheels it offstage. Via gestures, Matthew Rogers has the backstage crew let down the red velvet teaser so he can check it; then it is flown back up. The poles are stood upright. As I remember, musicians Christian Frederickson and Bobby McElver have not yet introduced their sound accompaniment.<\/p>\n

\"Matthew<\/a>

Matthew Rogers carries Jaro Vi\u0148arsk\u00fd, while Pavel Zu\u0161tiak watches. Photo: Yi-Chun Wu<\/p><\/div>\n

The first task of the evening involves the body on the floor. It belongs to that extraordinary actor-dancer Jaro Vi\u0148arsk\u00fd (he just won a Bessie for his outstanding performance in Zu\u0161tiak\u2019s The Painted Bird Trilogy\/Bastard<\/em>). He is inert but not stiff. Gravely\u2014even courteously\u2014 Zu\u0161tiak and Rogers stand him upright, tip him over, turn him upright again. Over the next few minutes they will try all manner of strategies. At first, you think you know what their intent is: they want Vi\u0148arsk\u00fd upright and on his own. Every time they almost manage it, he slips to the floor again. But what good does it do to roll over him, sling him across Rogers\u2019s shoulders, press him up against the back wall? At the end of this sequence, Zu\u0161tiak squats with his back against the wall, and Vi\u0148arsk\u00fd slides down to lie across his lap\u2014a piet\u00e0, but with the Christ figure\u2019s butt turned to the viewers. Rogers then maneuvers Vi\u0148arsk\u00fd into a cruciform position.<\/p>\n

\"Zu\u0161tiak<\/a>

Zu\u0161tiak (L) and Rogers hoist Vi\u0148arsk\u00fd. Photo: Yi-Chun Wu<\/p><\/div>\n

After Rogers and Zu\u0161tiak leave the stage in a matter-of-fact way, Vi\u0148arsk\u00fd pulls on some clothes while an unseen voice (it is Paul Cooper\u2019s) addresses us. \u201cImagine an empty space.\u201d \u201cImagine a cliff next to an ocean.\u201d \u201cImagine the last man.\u201d And then, as Vi\u0148arsk\u00fd walks to the front of the stage and looks at us, \u201cHere he is. He is the only one. The only him.\u201d A few hands clap. This woebegone hero stands on a chair and hammers mechanically on the door at the back. Then, in a careful order, he removes items of clothing and puts them on again. A pipsqueak of a melody starts up. \u201cWhere is he going?\u201d asks the voice. He is leaning against the proscenium arch, rubbing his crotch; he is pointing out a door. The house lights come on.<\/p>\n

All the questions about Vi\u0148arsk\u00fd\u2019s character might be ours. What is he doing? What does he want? Events in this world are out of synch with one another. After Vi\u0148arsk\u00fd leaves the stage, the boards in the alcove begin to topple until the \u201ccity\u201d is rubble. The lights dim. The black metal door comes down. A high melody is heard. The red velvet front curtain descends.<\/p>\n

Now it is Rogers\u2019s turn to be the mystifying man alone in the world. He comes through the red curtains into a spotlight, and immediately there are queries. This time the unseen interrogator is a woman (Tara Frederickson). Rogers smile at us and touches one ear. \u201cWhat does he mean by that?\u201d asks the voice. Search me. He executes some big jumps, and says \u201cThe past, the present, and the future walked into a bar.\u201d After a pause, he adds, \u201cIt was tense.\u201d He also starts to recite the 23rd Psalm. Little beaded footlights come on. \u201cCan he build a logic in this location?\u201d asks the vexing voice. It\u2019s amazing how Levasseur\u2019s lights suddenly change the look of Rogers\u2019s body, sculpting his chest muscles and abs even as he seems to be stooping under a burden.<\/p>\n

\"Suspended<\/a>

Suspended (L to R): Pavel Zu\u0161tiak, Matthew Rogers, Jaro Vi\u0148arsk\u00fd in Endangered Pieces<\/em>. Photo: Yi-Chun Wu<\/p><\/div>\n

Recovering from a roar of sound, we contemplate the red curtain for a while. It opens on the most startling sight in Endangered Pieces<\/em>. The three men, now naked, have climbed the poles and, backs to us, are gripping them with their legs and arms. Their necks are bent forward so that they appear to be headless. Anyone with a Christian upbringing or a degree in art history is liable to think of Jesus and the two thieves crucified along with him. A wash of chords swells and disappears as the three slowly, slowly, slowly slide down the poles and crouch in red light.<\/p>\n

Endangered Pieces<\/em> shows a world destroying itself. A sequence in which the men, now clothed, semaphore in different directions, suggests that they\u2019re signaling numbly through the flames, or turning like weather vanes in a confused wind. In a solo, Zu\u0161tiak stares toward the audience as if we were his mirror; he strokes his head, knocks it with his fists. He flutters his hands so fast that they blur.<\/p>\n

\"Picking<\/a>

Picking up the pieces. Rogers (foreground). At back: Vi\u0148arsk\u00fd (L) and Zu\u0161tiak. Photo: Yi-Chun Wu<\/p><\/div>\n

The men\u2019s last act is to rebuild the city. They aren\u2019t very successful. They lay neat tracks with the fallen boards\u2014tracks to nowhere. They unmake what others of them have made. Vi\u0148arsk\u00fd creates an arch and stands on it, then tries to remove one crucial board without destroying the structure. Rogers, sitting, gradually incorporates himself into the structure he is making. Should he move, the whole thing will crumble.<\/p>\n

The renovation strategies become increasingly pointless. What has Zu\u0161tiak achieved by balancing a board on the back of his neck? When Rogers flips one, and it flies through the air and crashes down, the end seems near. Vi\u0148arsk\u00fd is unable to make five boards align. One by one, the men leave the rubble. The curtain descends at an excruciatingly slow pace.<\/p>\n

Almost slowly enough to convey how gradually, how inexorably we humans are destroying our world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cloud Gate 2 presents On the Road for an all-male trio. Three men from Pavel Zu\u0161tiak\/Palissimo Company perform Endangered Pieces. Three men in a tub. Three Musketeers; The Three Stooges; Chico, Harpo, and Groucho Marx; the three sailors in Jerome Robbins\u2019s Fancy Free. What can they not get up to in the way of adventure, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2006,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[199],"tags":[953,952,955,954,314,312],"class_list":{"0":"post-1998","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-postmodern-views","8":"tag-cheng-tsun-lung","9":"tag-cloud-gate-2","10":"tag-jaro-vinarsky","11":"tag-matthew-rogers","12":"tag-palissimo","13":"tag-pavel-zustiak","14":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/dancebeat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/dancebeat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/dancebeat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/dancebeat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/dancebeat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/dancebeat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/dancebeat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/dancebeat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/dancebeat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/dancebeat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}