Wild Space Dances Under the Freeway

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Courtesy of Wild Space Dance Company

“Won’t it be cold?” I asked choreographer Debra Loewen about her Wild Space Dance Company’s new outdoor performance set for the evenings of Thursday and Friday, November 19-20. The 45-minute show will unfold in the beautiful parking lot beneath the dramatically curved downtown exit ramp off the Hoan Bridge.

“People will be warm in their cars,” she assures me. “They can keep their engines on, if they want. The dancers will wear coats. It’s been cold out, but in rehearsals once they start moving, they’re fine.”

Under the Freeway will be the third in the series of “drive-in dances” that Loewen originated in July with the generous partnership of Interstate Parking, LLC.  The dancers are masked and distanced. Attendees’ cars are guided by Wild Space staff to individual viewing spots, also distanced. Each car sees the dance from a unique perspective. Loewen watches from every spot during rehearsals, adjusting the staging as needed so that each view is powerful. And this time, the cars will switch spots mid-performance.

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Courtesy of Wild Space Dance Company

“We’re doing this in two areas,” Loewen explains. “They’re happening at the same time. Each area has two sets of cars, six on one side and six on the other. In the middle are massive concrete columns that support the freeway ramp. The dancers go back and forth between the columns. They’re present; then they disappear; then reappear, so your perspective keeps shifting and changing depending on where you are.”

“That goes on for about twenty minutes,” she continues. “Then all the cars relocate. We have a very specific route for them to follow and people helping them get situated. It won’t take more than five minutes, I think. And then the dancers repeat the performance. So in one area, they’re performing in the foreground, but through the columns the other side sees them as background for the dancers they’re watching. Then, in the second half, when the foreground shifts to the background, you remember what they did in front of you. That’s the beauty of it.”

Close to the Action

“It’s a small cast and the audience is very, very close to the action,” she adds. “So you have this massive structure overhead, these columns arranged in rows, and then you have cars and smaller, vulnerable people underneath, amidst all the concrete. It’s this appearing and disappearing; it’s what’s revealed and what’s not revealed about who we are in this moment. And those ideas are coming forth because of the cooperation of the site. It’s very site specific.” 

Headlights will provide the lighting. Intermittent accompaniment will be accessible to viewers in cars through their phones and will likely include some of the verbal cues that inspired the work’s creation – and will continue to inspire some elements of the performance. Examples include: dance a solo for someone who isn’t here; discover the world anew as if you were Columbus; learn how to leave the world. “So that’s the tone,” Loewen ventures. ”It’s the tone of the times, I guess.”

She searches for words. “There’s a sprinkling of coming out. We’ve been in shadows. With so much uncertainty, this performance is something certain and real. It’s an art-specific experience for us and for the audiences, an experience we have very few opportunities to have. We know it’s special -- just to take advantage of getting outside and being someplace else.  It’s going to feel celebratory. It’s going to be fun.”

There will be two performances each night, at 7:00 and 8:15 p.m. Advance reservations are required. Visit wildspacedance.org.  The Interstate Parking Lake Lot entrance is at 328 N. Van Buren St. Take St. Paul Ave. east to Van Buren, turn right and it’s immediately on your left.

To read more Dance previews and reviews, click here.

To read more articles by John Schneider, click here.