Photo Credit: Christal Wagner
“Everything you do in life is the study of something,” Amy Brinkman-Sustache told me recently. You can chew on that for days. Such speculation inspired the engaging studies of Tapology, Danceworks on Tap’s 2018 concert for Danceworks DanceLAB. Brinkman-Sustache introduced the show by defining Ethnomethodology, the study of how we learn to identify with groups and the title of her company’s opening number. A dancer executes a step; another imitates it. Complex developments follow. You can view it as just a good tap dance, and/or a consideration of growing up, and/or a serious examination of dance traditions we take for granted. Why is tap dance like this? What do dance traditions say about us as individuals and cultures? The dancers made decisions regarding who to imitate, follow, pair with and group with; or they chose, if it’s a choice, to stand outside. This opening dance, I think, encouraged us to view the concert with different eyes, always thinking, asking why, excited for what’s next.
Annette Grefig’s Cardiology was next: genuine tap virtuosity set to tiny electronic beeps that gathered speed in worrisome fashion and finished with that flat line hum. Vitality always, but how often does tap dance address mortality? Beyond cute, Kelly Kotecki’s Genealogy paired a mom (Kotecki) and her young daughter, inviting us to feel in the moment the force of that relationship on both of them. Brinkman-Sustache’s minimalist Photology, lighted by handheld flashlights, focused our attention on footwork and rhythm. Grefig’s Somnology was a dreamy clown show: dancers in pajamas and tap shoes lying on the floor danced in sleeping and snuggling positions—hilarious and liberating. Grefig’s Psychology followed: a gripping duet by the choreographer and Gabi Sustache, all high-speed nerve tapping, twitching, scratching, muscle spasms and waking anxiety. Then Rhythmology brought a crowd of new faces onstage; the students of Brinkman-Sustache’s summer tap workshop showed how well they’ve learned.
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Kathak is Indian classical dance; Bollywood commercializes it. Brinkman-Sustache’s Mixology combined kathak dancing by Kanchana Srinivasan and Cyenthia Vjayakumar with tap dancing by Brinkman-Sustache, Grefig and Sustache. The styles were equally, joyfully partnered, revealing cultural similarities and differences. Then tap masters Bob Balderson and Lamont Johnson partnered for Sociology, bringing lifetimes of tap to bear, heading for L.A. on “Route 66.” Nikki Platt choreographed the exhilarating climax Swingology: all-stops out tap flash to increasingly up-tempo renditions of Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean a Thing.” What a show!
