Interpretive stilt performance stimulates minds
Anyone hoping to relax and enjoy a peaceful theatrical performance Sunday night would have been very disappointed. A combination of stilts, synthesized sound and physically challenging theatrical movement created an intense energy and made the audience members critically think about what was unfolding in front of them.
The Carpetbag Brigade, a physical theatre company based in Oakland, Calif., performed at 8 p.m. on Sunday night in the ATLAS Black Box Theatre. A unique collaboration took place between the Imig School of Music and the Brigade.
Michael Theodore, an associate professor of music composition and technology, got in touch with one of the co-founders of the Brigade, Jay Ruby. Together they created a version of The Vanishing Point performance the Brigade toured with across the country.
Theodore chose students that were in, or had previously taken, some of his classes to compose a score of music for The Brigade. The Brigade came into town on April 10 and began practicing with the band in preparation for Sunday’s performance.
“There were very few (struggles),” Theodore said. “There was so much confidence, sophistication and flexibility all around (in the ensemble) and I knew I could count on them to make mature decisions.”
Kristen Greco, a CU alumni and co-director of The Vanishing Point, was also pleased with the collaboration.
“It was an experience to work with the new musicians,” Greco said. “There was a level of intricate communication between the musicians and dancers that was phenomenal and surprisingly easy.”
The performance was a physical interpretation of evolution with no dialogue. There was constant synthesis of sound through a set-up of computers and music played by the band.
The dancers wore simple costumes and performed dazzling tricks and motions on stilts. The audience followed these stilt-creatures through a transformation that left them as humans at the end of performance.
“The fast movement on stilts aligned with the musical rhythm and the surprises that come (with it) is the most challenging,” Greco said.
The dancers all had years of dance training and a collaborative six years of training on stilts to bring the performance to fruition. Greco and Ruby learned to perform on stilts from an Australian man that lives in Boulder.
“Being in stilts puts us in touch with a different audience,” Ruby said. “During summer festivals we can bring (this type of theatre) to mainstream audiences. There is a connection across typical value systems. We want to see what this show does for different audiences.”
The audience reacted in many different ways. Some smiled, laughed and others remained stunned at some of the body movement on stage. Even though the performance was a spectacle, it invited the audience to critically assess every movement and piece together a story.
Kris Bajtelsmit, a senior math and education major, didn’t know much about the performance beforehand and didn’t know what to expect.
“All I knew was interpretive stilts,” Bajtelsmit said. “I came out pleasantly surprised. It was culturally stimulating and very interesting.”
Theodore was pleased overall with how everything turned out.
“It was an exhilarating experience for the musicians to work with the dancers,” Theodore said. “I hope to see more and more of this at CU.”
Contact Campus Press staff writer Ashley Herzberger at ashley.herzberger@thecampuspress.com
