Pauline Adamek
Ten dancers, clad in worker-like shirts and trousers, all bare footed, gather around a long Perspex tunnel offstage. Center stage is a large dome covered in shiny silver fabric. A few of the dancers set themselves inside the clear, cylindrical tube then right it on its end. Now resembling a tower, the dancers slowly emerge from the top, others helping them descend. There’s a sense that they are a band of explorers, discovering new terrain. They are fascinated then attracted to the mysterious dome, startled when the fabric is mysteriously pulled into it revealing several Swiss cheese-like holes on its smooth, silver surface. The dome seems to exert some kind of magnetic force, sucking the dancers to its surface and prompting all sorts of acrobatic movement on and around it. There’s humor and whimsy to this sequence, as we hear grunts and slight groans from the dancers. Eventually each dancer is sucked through a hole, later emerging in skin-tight gold and copper-toned leotards; a re-birth. Eventually the dome tilts, revealing a slick and reflective silver floor. The dance piece continues…
This ingenious set piece offers seemingly endless possibilities for experimental movement and choreographic exploration. The central dome was designed by Mike McCluskey—Diavolo’s scenic designer for the past 15 years and close collaborator with Artistic Director Jacques Heim. The dome’s semi-spherical shape suggests a glimpse of a sci-fi moonscape. Weighing a hefty 1700 pounds, and divisible into four pieces for touring, it’s a shift away from the interlocking cube set of their previous two dance works, also commissioned by the LA Phil for performance at the Bowl.
Just before this work-in-progress sneak peek commenced, Heim explained to the assembled friends of the company that the dancers are all credited as contributing choreography, such as acrobatic moves, elegant lifts and thrilling leaps from the dome’s summit.
Fluid Infinities is a marvelous work.
Diavolo Dance Theater, the Internationally renowned modern acrobatic dance company will premiere Fluid Infinities, the final installment in a trilogy of commissions from the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl on September 5, 2013. The 25-minute dance piece will be accompanied by music from modern composer Phillip Glass as performed by the LA Phil.
Fluid Infinities— Music by Glass – Dance by Diavolo
Hollywood Bowl
2301 North Highland Avenue,
Hollywood CA 90068.
September 5, 2013
Tickets range from $1 to $104.
Group rates, subscriptions and single tickets for the Hollywood Bowl 2013 summer season are also available.
For tickets and information, please call (323) 850-2000, or visit their official site.
For more information on Diavolo Dance Theater please visit their official site.
Brian Sonia-Wallace
