Forewarnedthen, I attended a rehearsal of one of the five new works in the program, What You’re Thinking,by Elizabeth Johnson from the dancefaculty and Heather Warren-Crow of the visual arts faculty. I don’t know what Iexpectedsomething less moving, at any ratebut what I saw joins the list of mypersonal favorites this season. It’s built on a stammering, provocative text byWarren-Crow, an artist I’ve admired since I saw her singing a torch song andcrawling blindfolded in the 2009 “Performance Art Showcase.” As is the casehere, she and Johnson often focus on media and other representations of women,but this time a broader criticism of our culture is on display: the disconnectbetween actions and consequences, or what Johnson called our culture of massdelusion. The youthful cast clearly gets this multimedia piece and looks greatin it.
Othernew works are by Milwaukeeartists I admire: Simone Ferro will have two Brazilian-inspired pieces, one setin the lobby of the UWM Mainstage Theatre, where the concert will take place;Dani Kuepper’s Sink, Gasp, Float is awork about identity in a dark vein; and Janet Lilly plays with pop musicmessages. Krislyn World Heil, whose work I don’t know, will deploy Latin danceand Vegas showgirl imagery.
Thefeatured event is Garth Fagan’s late-1970s masterpiece From Before.Best knownas the Tony Award-winning choreographer of TheLion King,Fagan isinternationally celebrated for combining Caribbeanand African dance with American and European styles with full respect for theirdistinct techniques and goals. Zanoni and Follensbee, featured in a duet,believe the choreography pays homage to everything in Fagan’s multiculturaldance history to its moment of creation (hence the title), and that it’s abeautiful challenge for the almost entirely Caucasian student cast, hand-pickedby Fagan over three days of auditions.
