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Blogs / Lounge Act / September 2008 / Dance review: Ririe-Woodbury's Tower

Dance review: Ririe-Woodbury's Tower

First things first: this is not really a review of the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company's season-opening show, Tower, billed as "a full evening of dance by Alwin Nikolais." I attended a glorified dress rehearsal performed for local school kids. And besides, what I know about dance performance can fit inside a tiny dancer's shoe.

But I do know something cool when I see it, and the four works in this show by noteworthy choreographer Nikolais certainly qualify. The show is named for the final performance of the evening, Tower, but it also includes mesmerizing works like Crucible, Liturgies and Tensile Involvement. Put them together, and you have one impressive launch party for the Ririe-Woodbury season.

(A scene from a Tower performance in 1965, when the work first appeared.)

The headlining Tower performance dates back to 1965, and is reportedly Nikolais' "indictment of the American babble" as one writer put it, a Tower of Babel metaphor created through creative use of colors and shadow, bright lights and cacophonous sound. The dancers punctuate their incredible physical feats with dialogue that ebbs and flows in a rumble of words hard to discern from the audience as they slowly build up a massive tower to drape themselves on, before it comes crashing down in a thundering clatter.

While Tower was interesting enough, my favorite parts of the show were Crucible and Tensile Involvement. In Crucible, which debuted in 1985, clever use of lights and mirrors make the dancers's various limbs the stars of the performance. And in Tensile Involvement, the 1955 piece which Joan Woodbury called "Nik's signature work," the dancers are tethered to a series of fabric streamers that stretch from floor to ceiling, and the way they use them to show building tension, followed by release, is highly entertaining.

All the works serve as fine representations of Nikolais' build-from-the-ground-up style that Woodbury said had the choreographer first coming up with dances, then layering in music, costumes and lights as he proceeded. That's why his works are called "dance-theater," she said, not just dance.

All I know is, the physicality of the dancers is incredible, and when you pair that with an inspired visionary, you have magic on your hands. Much of this show certainly seems to qualify.

Tower runs Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Salt Lake City's Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 South. There is also a 2 p.m. Saturday matinee. Tickets are $30; $15 for students and seniors. Call 801-355-ARTS or visit www.arttix.org.