featured photo




The Kitchen
Brought to you by
Body Wrappers; New York Flash Review Sponsor
the New York manufacturer of fine dance apparel for women and girls. Click here to see a sample of our products and a list of web sites for purchasing.
With Body Wrappers it's always
performance at its best.

Go back to Flash Reviews
Go Home

Flash Review 2, 10-2: Notes from an Exhibition
Pondering Porte

By Chris Dohse
Copyright 2001 Chris Dohse

NEW YORK -- Now, almost 48 hours after seeing Dominique Porte/Systeme D's "Retard Probable 5 Mn" at Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church this weekend (part of Quebec! NY 2001), I find it hard to describe the movement Porte makes. Stabbing, abbreviated gestures? Punched? I look at my notes; they're no help. They're full of feelings and images. Qualities. Now I remember the dream I had that night, of making love to a beautiful, wounded, imaginary, needful lovely something.

Perhaps transcribing my notes will communicate the work's flavor: already started gorgeously scrawny character falling into his bones -- and the whispering from the row behind -- speaking frantic percussive fractured stuff that we wish we saw every day -- dancing all squawky -- four dancers’ gesticulating and traversing with stomping runs. each does it in its own way -- musically holds a, contains a, coherent chord, but can't contain their own angles -- they're knowing how brilliant they are and it enhances their allure -- think of frogs -- did he say that -- slashing and thrown with his glasses held on his head by a thingumee -- music comes and goes spastic -- like they're constricted somehow by invisible bonds and it sickens me to remember most of the things I've been tied to -- oh yeah the stilt shoes. mantis-like -- seeing portents everywhere, man returns to place his lips on the same piece of floor, every rehearsal for an unforgiving muse made me rethink the way my leg was placed over my knee -- relentless now.

Wait! I can say it now. It was one of those times when I wonder about mortality and the transience of everything and why do people care about each other when we're so awkward and dark and filled with glittering dangerous color and completely inscrutable. The woman next to me stamped her cane and said, "Mental hospital! That's where they were!."

Go back to Flash Reviews
Go Home