By GUILHERME MELETTI YAZBEK

Last night, at the wonderful Kelly-Strayhorn Theater, Maria Caruso’s Bodiography presented Intersections, a performance that—true to its name—stages encounters: between artists, between bodies, between modes of expression. Pittsburgh-born dancer and choreographer Maria Caruso invited the audience to learn about and witness her larger project, Bodiography. The initiative functions as a platform with two fronts: a pedagogical one, dedicated to teaching and learning dance, and a creative one, producing new choreographic works developed with local artists as well as international collaborators.

This edition featured pieces by Caruso herself, by Meghan Dann and Isaac Ray, and by international guests from Italy—ARB Dance Company—and the United Kingdom—Matrafisc Dance (choreographed by Ina Colizza). What we witnessed was a range of approaches to understanding and practicing contemporary dance—duets, trios, a solo, and ensemble moments. I was struck by something Caruso said in her opening remarks: “Bodiography is a dance for any body. For anybody.” She then emphasized the project’s pedagogical dimension. She explained that the evening’s pieces brought together both students (amateur dancers) and professional performers.

What followed indeed reflected different perspectives on contemporary dance—and on dance as a whole. In broad terms, what stood out to me was the ongoing dialogue between weight and lightness: many floor sequences, at times fast, with rolls and quick transitions; at other moments, slower, more grounded, with extended pauses on the floor. In contrast—echoing a long lineage of dance traditions, particularly ballet—a pursuit of lightness also appeared, a desire to defy gravity through jumps and through those many moments when two bodies join to reach higher lifts, producing striking images.

Beyond this rich interplay of weight and elevation, the ensemble moments left a particularly strong impression on me. Whether with two, three, or many dancers, unison sections carry a force that is difficult to articulate. It is not, as one might argue, a loss of individual expression. Quite the opposite: it is within the unison that we see each body handling the shared movement in its own way while connecting to the collective through time, form, and spatial patterns. Perhaps something of a ritual potency resonates there—something we have sadly almost completely lost in our urban, digitized, accelerated lives.

Regarding the dancers’ performances—and here I should note that the distinction between professionals and amateurs quickly became both irrelevant and impossible to maintain—it is worth highlighting the expressive attention to their faces. In nearly every piece, I sensed a conscious awareness that the face is also body, that it also dances. I saw dancers deeply attuned to one another, with gazes that connect and sustain. Gazes that traced invisible lines across the stage; the gaze as expressive gesture—because that is precisely what it is. I also saw many smiles, which made me think about the pleasure of dancing: dancing for and with oneself, dancing for and with another, dancing for and with the whole—be it the universe, God, goddesses, or any extrahuman force one might believe in or feel.

Dance is not only a language but also a powerful tool for generating collectivity, life-force, and a sense of aliveness. And, true to the project’s name, what I witnessed last night were bodies writing (body + graphy) in and with space, and with each other, writing their own corporeal realities, writing the act of being together, writing feelings and sensations.

From what I gathered in Caruso’s opening remarks, next year marks the project’s twenty fifth anniversary—so we can expect celebrations and, of course, plenty of dance!

FUTURE PERFORMANCES by Maria Caruso’s Bodiography

Nutcracker | December 12 – 13, 2025 | La Roche University College Square | Free admission |  2 performances

Season schedule at https://new.bodiography.com/index.cfm

Guilherme is a Brazilian theater practitioner and scholar, currently pursuing a PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Pittsburgh

Categories: Arts and Ideas