6 dances premiered between 1990-1992
Batida, Alone, Together
Premiered 1990- Keck Auditorium, Occidental College, Los Angeles CA
War, Remembrance
Premiered 1991- Bovard Auditorium, USC, Los Angeles CA
Wedding
Premiered 1992- Glendale Arts Galleries, Glendale CA
Batida, Wedding, Alone, War, Remembrance, and Together
Costumes and sets: Linda Borough
Music: All dances except Remembrance by R. Musci & G. Venosta
Rembrance by Michael Brook interpreted by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Urban and Tribal Dances is about people of present, past, or slightly future time in an urban setting.
The first and last dances reveal an ever-present communal or tribal theme that lies below the surface. “Alone” is just the opposite, bleak and isolated. Although choreographed in 1990, it foreshadows our dependence on our phones, but at this time by the attached line. When it breaks, the dancer is deaf and blind. “Wedding” views the familiar rite of passage from the wedding party members various points of references. “War” draws on warriors from many times, and was inspired by Desert Storm, which in many ways translated as entertainment on television. Not much was shown of the many who suffered and died during the war. Not much has changed about the physical combat since 1991. “Remembrance” was also used with some changes in Reichlin’s 1995-98 “The Email Dances” used within as both a solo and duet with Reichlin. It was again used in THE BAGGAGE PROJECT with digital art by Audri Phillips.
Press Quotes
"Reichlin's ambitious, ever-engaging, six-part suite delivers exactly what its title promises. following once again her trademark aesthetic, she opts for metaphor, transferring what we think of as tribal behavior to the contemporary urban scene...Before a triumphant finale, a world and its history have passed before our eyes, thanks to Louise Reichlin."
"Reichlin's "Urban and Tribal Dances" is a wonderful vehicle for her talent for evoking mysterious, primitive imagery. ...In "Batida", Linda Borough's eccentric hats graced the heads of several dancers in black who criss-crossed the stage like so many cultures converging ... "Alone"... a deft interweaving of mythical, primitive and biological images ..."Together" challenged gender differentiation by putting all the dancers, including the men, in skirts. Reichlin used simple folk dance figures in this section, reemphasizing the earth, universal quality of "Urban and Tribal Dances" as a whole."
"The most interesting example of her current work was found in Urban and Tribal Dances, which was further enhanced by an intriguing score of ethnic sounds gathered from around the world. ...Costumed in surreal headdresses and makeup, the dancers conveyed the interconnectedness of human existence, juxtaposed with the isolation experienced even in the midst of society."
Gallery
-
- Alone. Photo by Theodora Litsios
-
- Alone. Photo by Theodora Litsios
-
- Batida. Photo by Theodora Litsios
-
- Batida. Photo by Theodora Litsios
