Vendetta Mathea, an American transplant in Aurillac, France, shared an excerpt of her new work, Water Soul, at the Downtown Dance Festival last Sunday. Since I was born and raised in France, it was exciting for me to identify and distill the influences of both the American and French cultures in Vendetta’s work. Beginning in silence, in the midst of the city sounds, four dancers entered the stage in two separate color blocked groups: one comprising Mathea, the choreographer, and another young woman in black lace tops and jazz pants, and the other which included a young female and male dancer in yellow fishnet tops and leggings. After first recognizing each other, the dancers then noticed the audience. They each represented different characters and were mimicking the mannerisms found in their observation of the crowd. From laughter to pain, all their feelings seemed to emerge from their gut as the torso initiated every movement. Though their dramatic reactions were silent, they built a momentum through which they progressively came together in a line and started reflecting their impressions collectively. An electric guitar piece then initiated the beginning of a new segment with succinct duets made of sharp isolations. Mathea, in […]
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