Young performance surges with energy New York choreographers deliver powerful dance works

Author: Sara Jameson

Powerful, sensual and surging with energy, the performances by Bill Young/Colleen Thomas and Dancers reflected the true art of choreography, grace and vigor. The performances of the company's two works, "Rein, Bellow" and "Ripe for Hysteria," ranged from displays of other-worldly grace and sensuality to grating, disconnected realism. The emotions incited by both shows were powerful and the dancers exhibited unmistakable talent and grace.

Young, now a New York-based choreographer and dancer, began his studies at Oberlin College where he planned to study music. It was there where, on a whim, he decided to take a dance class. He liked dancing from the start, especially the improvisation. Coincidentally, he began his studies during a time of great change and movement in the artof contemporary dance.

"I loved being in the midst of this change while it was happening," he said. According to Young, the energy and excitement inspired him. In 1988, he moved to New York City, where he started his own company, Bill Young and Dancers. That year he toured internationally and encountered dancers from all over the world, including Prague and Budapest. "[I] loved being able to be so involved with people in other parts of the world," said Young. "I realized that people have so much in common and have so much to learn from one another."

Young's travels have influenced his works greatly. Many of his dancers come from distant parts of the world, such as Venezuela, Russia, Poland and Greece. He has learned much from working with these different people. "At first I wanted the dancers to move my way," Young said, "but after working with other people, I realized the importance of creating a work where each person has [his] own style." It was their individual styles and the personas of his dancers that Young wanted to incorporate into his works. "People would bring in their own images, their own experiences," Young explained. He wanted these personal reflections to be incorporated into the piece .

Young is very interested in the personality of his works. His goal is "to create a connection between the performers and the audience" by revealing who the people on stage truly are. "I want the audience to feel as if they were looking into [the performer's] own little world," Young said. This goal is exemplified in his newest work, "Ripe for Hysteria," which focuses on the private and public personas of the dancers and how they interact with one another.

Young is also very concerned with making his art real. "When you get all involved with the theory," Young said, "you lose the reality." Technique, he realizes, is very important, but he understands that a dancer cannot be governed by it. "I want to show the honesty of dance," explained Young. "I want to break those lines between the dancers and the audience… I'm interested in seeing people without expectations of what dance is. Anyone can get into it!" he exclaimed. He feels that the audience must be curious about who the dancers are, and to breach that gap he reveals them to the audience by artistically exposing both their individual personalities and their stage presence as performers. He takes the importance of knowing the identity of his dancers very seriously. He stated that, above all, "I am influenced by my dancers - who they are and what they are."

The performances of both of Young's works reflected this passion for reality and individualism. He described his first piece, "Rein, Bellow," (2003) as "dark and otherworldly." The emotional and sensual movements of the dancers heightened the fluid quality of the work. Showcasing the technique of contact partnering, each dancer displayed an intense awareness and feeling for what the others were doing. At one point, two men were connected by a pulley system and a beautiful succession of giving and pulling ensued between them. In another scene, a woman was carried precariously on a table as another became trapped underneath. The dancers displayed their talent as they used movement and superb choreography to present a scene where the woman was perilously jolted around, almost helpless, but extremely graceful in her efforts to prevent herself from falling off. The work as a whole was beautiful and powerful and the use of movement, light and sensual choreography to portray emotion was astounding.

The performance of "Ripe for Hysteria" exhibited much of Young's obsession with the exposure of the individuality of each performer as a person in reality and on the stage. This work was much more disconnected and scattered. The work also featured a live projection video that added another interesting perspective to the action of the scene. It was very energized, and the characters all had moments to expose themselves, but the piece was also very cluttered. It had a much less mysterious quality than the first work, exposing more of the reality and busyness of the real world. Young explained "Ripe for Hysteria" is more concerned with reality, about "who [the performers] are right now."

It seemed that most audience members reacted strongly to Bill Young's works. "Rein, Bellow" struck more of a chord, while "Ripe for Hysteria" left many confused about its meaning. However, one audience member, Chris Aldrich, a member of the greater Middlebury arts community, found the performances to be "unique and innovative."

"I thought the first piece was extremely emotionally charged - much more so than the second," he said. "It had more of an emotional component." He also liked what he described as the dancers' "minimalist approach," saying, "The works were not overdone. The stripped-down approach let you focus entirely on what was going on in the scene."

Overall, the works of Young and his dancers were charged with sensuality, grace and powerful choreography. The amazing talent of the dancers was revealed in their fluid movements and collaborative ability. Each work exhibited much of what Bill Young was aiming to portray - the improvisational grace of dance, the individuality of his dancers and their unified skill at revealing unaffected reality.