Heidi Latsky Dance opened their “Triptych” Sunday with “Somewhere,” dressed in all white, under hanging lights that lit the stage like stars, some dangling lower and some shining brighter, standing on a surface of wide black and white stripes. They started moving without music, holding stillness then springing into motion simultaneously. Atonal music created by Xi.me.na Borges began and the activity on stage accelerated.
The second panel of the “Triptych” was the beautiful film “Soliloquoy.” An out of focus hand fills the screen, then necks, shoulders, torsos, bodies move alone or entertwined with others in a setting that seems to be nowhere. We only see parts of bodies until the powerful end when each unique individual stands center screen.
In the third panel the dancers returned, this time dressed in all black on the black and white striped floor in “Solo Countersolo.” The original music by Chris Brierly was more melodic than the mostly atonal music for “Somewhere.”
In the two live pieces, choreographer Heidi Latsky created exquisite scenes from the contrasting colors and interesting lighting to the balance of dancers on the stage. What I loved most about the dancers was their beautiful port de bras. Their fast flinging control while using their fully range of motion was hypnotic.
“Solilioquoy,” with film and sound editing by Marilys Ernst and photography by Zac Halberd, is a beautiful and moving work of film. From the first blurred hand to the final full body, the film grows through a climax and resolution. Extreme closeups allow a hand or a neck to completely fill the area of the stage, making the bodies that move them seem larger than life. You want to know more about these people who seem isolated or suspended in time. Unique and anonymous, the individuals are easily relatable, so that by the end of the film there’s a warm and intimate acceptance of humanness.
