GERALDCASELDANCE

Disorientation was the theme of the GERALDCASELDANCE program at UWM's Fine Arts Chamber Theatre last weekend as visiting professor&nbsp;Gerald Casel showcased a premiere, <em>Dwelling</em>,&nbsp;and his 2005 work, <em>Squared Away</em>, creating a random precision through thought-provoking discomfort.<br /><br />Drawing upon his own recent experiences as a stranger in a stranger land (Germany), Casel sought to provoke the audience using a mix of spoken narration (live and voiceover), discordant sounds and vocals (growling, percussive beats, scratching) and “music” that changed every night (at Saturday night's performance, more&nbsp;pre-taped vocals were used amid the predetermined cacophony of sound and movement).<br /><br />Casel's intentions had unintended results. Amid the hour-long program for the two pieces (no intermission), it took a while for the audience to catch on, if they did at all.&nbsp; The first seven minutes of <em>Squared Away</em> featured two people defining the floor space and the seating section laying down a dark blue tape while others constructedand then deconstructeda tent using two ladders and a sheet amid the outdoor sounds of night (chirping, scratching).<br /><br />Once the actual dance movement began, Casel along with Kelly Anderson and Steven Michael LaFond displayed a sense of quiet strength, juxtaposing fluid movement against harsh, aggressive (and spontaneous) jumps and rolls.&nbsp; The attempt to find order and flow within the 20-minute opener was further challenged by the repetitious voiceover of “It Was a Dark and Stormy Night.”&nbsp; Confusing? That's the point.<br /><br />With the 40-minute <em>Dwelling</em>, Casel, along with Anderson and Christina Briggs-Winslow, Steven Moses and Bridgett Tegen, used predetermined moves within the space to improvise and return back to the main structure, riffing on a move if it worked &nbsp;in the moment of the movement (think: bebop jazz artists improvising on a main melody).<br /><br />When Casel pulled the backstage curtain to reveal a simple one-dimensional line drawing of a house, it was imminently clear that “there's no place like home.” Certainly home as we know itfamiliar, comforting, certain.<br /><br />With Casel and company's work, expect the unexpected for dancers and audience alike. <p style="margin-bottom: 16pt;"> </p>