By Katie Posey
Santa Barbara Dance Theater is the longest running contemporary dance company in the south coast region.
Last weekend, the company held its first show of the year at UC Santa Barbara. The performance marked the return of choreographer David Maurice, who had brought innovative work to Santa Barbara Dance Theater years ago.
Dancers Nicole Powell and Paige Amicon brought a bystander on stage during "Partial Adaptation“ at the Santa Barbara Dance Theater’s first winter performance last weekend. Photo by Fritz Olenberger.
In the Hatlen Theater, the company presented a series of performances choreographed by Maurice, as well as artistic director Brandon Whited, and guest choreographer Helen Simoneau.
Each dance performance creatively expressed the evening’s focus: Intimacy and Autonomy. The evening began with “Partial Adaptation,” an interactive piece choreographed by Maurice. Returning dancers Paige Amicon and Nicole Powell performed on stage with what appeared to be a wooden bench. Early in the performance, Powell stepped off stage into the audience and welcomed a bystander on stage, whose face displayed the utter shock of being drawn into the performance.
Dancers Riley Haley, Dalya Modlin, and Sky Pasqual led “Her (Abridged)” choregraphed by Santa Barbara Dance Theater artistic director Brandon Whited. Photo by Fritz Olenberger.
Once on stage, the participant was given a coat to wear and directed to different areas of the stage to watch the performance. Later in the performance, to the audience’s surprise, a dancer flipped the bench on its side, and it became a cabinet from which dancers pulled out wine glasses. They proposed a toast and clinked their glasses together. The audience giggled as the bystander on stage improvised along with the proposed action.
Following “Partial Adaptation” came “Her (Abridged)” by Whited. Dancers Riley Haley, Dalya Modlin, and Sky Pasqual led a lively performance full of movement and energy. The stage lighting resembled moonlight peaking into a dark room. The transition between frequent physical contact and then none at all encouraged the audience to reflect on the spatial relationships between the dancers.
The performance concluded with “Darling” by Simoneau, a piece about the space between intent and impact. The performance was set to a musical piece by Mary Kouyoumdojian.
“Darling is a term of endearment on its face, but like honey, doll-face, and sweetheart, it can be wielded for other purposes,” wrote dramaturg Melanie George in the performance program notes. “Out of the wrong mouth, babe and similar words can warp from endearment to terms of bondage…this is the heart of ‘Darling’.”
Dancers Nicole Powell and Paige Amicon performing “Darling,” the final piece in the Santa Barbara Dance Theater’s inaugural show of 2023. Photo by Fritz Olenberger.
During “Darling” one dancer would hold the other by the shirt, evoking power struggles with constraining movements that encouraged the audience to think about the role that power dynamics plays in those relationships. In the piece, the relationships between dancers were constantly changing, mirroring real-world interactions. “There is a nuanced understanding about human interaction here, investing in resultant relationships over performance melodrama,” George wrote..
Santa Barbara Dance Theater will be returning in the spring with a new set of innovative pieces.
Katie Posey is a fourth year UC Santa Barbara student majoring in Communication. She is a Web and Social Media Intern for the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts