By JESSICA NEU
I listened to a podcast hosted by Meghan McCain a couple of weeks ago. She and her guest were discussing the idea of work-life balance. McCain mentioned that she does not like the word “balance” used in this context because it suggests that a person’s life must contain equal parts work and respite, which is rarely achievable on a daily basis. Therefore, one should embrace a lack of balance so that one aspect of one’s life is not disproportionate to another in the long term.
So, is there a space in which we achieve perfect balance? Joanna Abel questions the need for balance within ourselves and nature in her latest work, Dragonfly Dawn. Dragonfly Dawn depicts several animals who unite in a mystical forest and initially revel in joy and tranquility before being disrupted by an evil harpy. Dragonfly Dawn intertwines dance (Abel, choreographer, dancer, and aerialist), costume design (Jamie Miller), and set design (Natalie Rose Mabry) to transport audiences to an ethereal wooded landscape of wonderment. The dancers mix their costumes and puppetry to connect audiences to nature’s pristine offerings. Abel, alongside Maria Hamer, Christine Andrews, and Barbara Brutt, glide across the stage as they embody birds, butterflies, and insects. They use their puppets and costumes to create elegant movement and imagery, creating an immersive theatrical experience.
The multi-colored wings of the delicate butterfly fluidly dance in harmony with its nature friends. The lightning bug gleefully freely jumps and spins, just as they would if they were evading a child’s lightning bug jar. A cricket, looking like an ethereal goddess, plays beautiful melodies on the violin, attracting a fantastically feathered swan to their forest area. There are also times when the dancers move to the calming sounds of nature.
Crickets, birds chirping, and leaves rustling in the wind evoke a playful banter between the forest creatures as they frolic about their natural habitat. A gentle deer joins its animal friends and plays an upbeat percussion rhythm that brings an effervescence to the tranquil forest. Adorned in silver sequin, the performers showcase their belly dancing skills as they rhythmically sway to the beats of nature.
That is, until the forest is no longer tranquil, peaceful, or joyous. Returning to McCain’s point about balance, the calm and inviting forest was not necessarily balanced in the first part of Dragonfly Dawn.
Midway through the production, evil enters the space. Initially depicted through haunting video images (Scott Andrews, media designer) that show the battle between good and evil. This battle can be interpreted in that it represents the internal battle we all face between right and wrong, or the battles that occur between good and evil in any societal environment, including nature. As evil tilts the proverbial seesaw of nature, an ominous, cloaked percussionist plays as a harpy roams the stage. The grotesque figure grows as the percussion music grows louder and deeper – a stark juxtaposition to the deer’s earlier delightfully upbeat rhythms. Rain consumes the forest as the dancers chant in an effort to restore harmony to their sacred space. The battle between good and evil continues and includes dance and aerial skills that create a dynamic allegorical representation of inner and external strife and the need for order, from which the community benefits.
Unfortunately, we cannot journey through the woods or life and completely avoid strife. Eventually, we lose our innocence and confront a sense of evil that looks different for each of us. However, with our support group intact, we can conquer most evils. Our lives, nor nature, may ever be perfectly balanced. But Dragonfly Dawn teaches us to embrace harmony, savor tranquility, fight against evil, and never forget to look for the lightning bugs to illuminate our path.
TICKETS AND DETAILS
New Hazlett Theaters’s Community Supported Art’s presentation od Dragonfly Dawn, by Joanna Abel, has performances on April 24 & 25 at 8:00pm (Tickets $20–$34} and on April 25 at 10:00am (Tickets – Pay What You Can)
Tickets at https://ci.ovationtix.com/36406/production/1218644?performanceId=11549012
Categories: Arts and Ideas, Reviews
Leave a Reply Cancel reply