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Contemporary Dance: Meg Wolfe Shakes It Up @ REDCAT
Meg Wolfe, Taisha Paggett and Gregory Barnett in Wolfe's trembler.SHIFTER @ REDCAT June 2-5. Photo by Mathu Andersen
An ex-New Yorker and now almost an institution in today's local concert dance scene, the creative mover and shaker Meg Wolfe whirls into the Roy and Edna Disney Cal Arts Theateron Thursday for a weekend of performances of her newest work, trembler.SHIFTER.
Like the past four dances in Ms. Wolfe's repertory, this new quintet has been created in collaboration with sound artist Aaron Drake, who mixes sampled slide guitar, trembling cymbals, pop/classical mashings and 75 modified music boxes installed throughout the theater to create a destabilizing sonic environment. The premiere is said to be the choreographer's response to recent natural and man-made disasters.
Promotional materials report that the evening length event explores a "continuum of extremes—from the intimate tug of emotions and the vast pull of gravitational force . . . through unsustainable acts of balancing [and] volatile rhythmic surfaces."
Aided by a creative team that includes lighting designer Chris Kuhl, scenic designer Lorrie P. Snyder and costume designer Marcus Kuiland-Nazario, the premiere is performed by some of the best in the city's "downtown-ish" dance scene: Gregory Barnett, Sarah Day, Darius Mannino, Taisha Paggett and the choreographer, herself.
Having seen the bulk of what the woman has done here in LA, I can attest to the subtlety and nuance that the artist brings to the stage, the ferocious dancing she elicits from her colleagues and the sly bit of humor that she sneaks into the air. Like a mischievious child hiding something but hoping that you'll find it, Meg Wolfe is worth keeping an eye on!.
Click here for a peek at her past and slide into a REDCAT seat on the weekend.
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