Last year, Repertory Dance Theatre’s world premiere performance of Natosha Washington’s I AM…, which the company commissioned, was outstanding. Coming 13 months later, in line with the company’s season theme of Reflection, the eight dancers, joined by narrator and singer Dee-Dee Darby-Duffin, took the evening-length work to new heights in a riveting display of spectacular ensemble chemistry.
Washington’s work is unrelenting in its performance demands and not solely because of the focus it requires, due to its 75-minute length. The choreography is emotionally charged and its spectrum of physical traits require plenty of stamina to sustain its flow and precision. In many instances, the movement language is as balletic as it is modern dance and the fusion is visually rewarding. The movement language is near-encyclopedic here.
As noted in the preview at The Utah Review, in developing and setting I AM…, Washington started the creative process, by reflecting upon the holistic body of experiences she has as a Black woman. However, to describe the work as autobiographical is insufficient because Washington has opened up each section to allow the dancers to etch their own personality (and experiences with the themes she introduces throughout the evening) into I AM… This is a brilliant meta composition about art, identity and the imprint of memories, place and history.
RDT’s latest performance was sharp, precise and seamless at every turn. Darby-Duffin’s narration was well integrated to emphasize the continuity from one section to another. Still fresh from a three-week East Coast tour, the eight dancers found their unparalleled symbiosis on stage. Every dancer had their moment to shine. Among the many highlights came in Dismantle, accompanied by Darby-Duffin’s narration that she wrote. Trung ‘Daniel’ Do took an unforgettable performance from last year and elevated it even more, embedding himself deep into the emotional core of frustrations of an unjust, cruel world. In this section, Do is on the verge of collapse and defeat but his peers pull him back from spinning completely out of control.
The emotional counterpoint unfolds lucidly. Following the torment evoked in Do’s tour de force performance, Caleb Daly and Alexander Pham, joined on stage by Darby-Duffin, sashay, strut and pop their hips in My Crown, to the neo-soul sounds of Coup Sauvage and The Snips and Willow Smith’s Whip My Hair. Utah composer Trevor Price’s original score is materialized in No End in Sight, in an affecting duet rendered by Ursula Perry and Jacob Lewis. Likewise, Ursula Perry’s statuesque regalness in her solos add the essential brush strokes to the choreographic chronicle.
The company revels in the faith and glory of Church, accompanied by Sunday Service Choir’s Souls Anchored. Monsters, featuring the company, again with original music by Price, strikes with renewed urgency, given the current tenor of our politics and the realities of how the threats to rewind and twist history continue to lurk nearby. Nevertheless, the spirit of art is indefatigable in its resilience and relevance. Washington finally closes the work with the company, Darby-Duffin and music by Price and cellist Nicole Pinnell, on the consoling fortitude in the meditation of I Am Here, which completes the narrative circle.
With the company approaching its 60th anniversary, the dancers make the case for RDT’s age of diamonds on stage. Last year’s performance of I AM… was named by The Utah Review as one of the Top 10 Moments of the Utah Enlightenment for 2023: “The RDT company gave an unconditionally exceptional performance. Indeed, it was a rare moment when the eight dance artists effectively unified with a work that began as an autobiographical composition of choreography. Washington’s work ultimately became an embodiment of the dancers’ own experiences as artists in the studio but also in their lived identities off the performing stage.” Those words certainly apply to the 2024 performance. To add: the dancers remarkably have ensured its place as a masterpiece in RDT’s extraordinary catalog, thereby making it a work of historical significance.
Photo Credit: Sharon Kain.
The next show will be the company’s annual Emerge, which will take place Jan. 10-11. The show will feature original choreography set by dancers and RDT staff.
For tickets and more information, see the RDT website.