The healing ceremony and meditative ritual, “RITE,” made an impact on audience members gathered at the Queens Public Library, Hunters Point on Monday December 11th.
This physical dance work, performed by 6 men, invites the audience to not only witness the performers on a journey through their internal struggles but also to participate in their own ritual of letting go. The vulnerability of the performers was palatable creating a visceral experience for the audience and drawing them deeply into the piece. Viewing the work, along with participating in this ritual, had a profound effect on audience members in attendance.
At the talkback, led directly after the performance, by Artistic Director, Valerie Green, our lively conversation allowed audience members and performers alike to reflect on their experience. The dancers shared their thoughts on the opportunity to perform in a company of men in a piece in which they are asked to be unguarded, to let down what is expected of them as men in society. This rare circumstance was noted by the audience as well ‘It’s not often we see men without their mask’. One audience member was moved when invited to participate in the work. ‘All our lives we hold on to pain and hurt. What if we could consciously let it go?’.
Hear about RITE, the work and process from each dancer in a sneak-peak below!
Aidan Feldman: “This piece is physically demanding, and it's an interesting challenge to try and pace myself as we go through it. At the climax of the piece, we are meant to reach a point of peak exhaustion and collapse - the trick is not collapsing too early, while also not being too precious in conserving energy and holding back. That balance within the piece is a regular reminder of a larger theme of the work, which is struggle with the self.
Johnny Matthews III: “I have found this work to be a physical and mental representation of pushing through difficulty to find shared humanity and unity between us performers. As a performer, Rite asks me to dissolve my facades and go through a journey of discovery into my essential, animal self. Riding the waves of this work as we show it to new audiences allows me to discover more depth within the choreography.”
Tsubasa Nishioka: “In the process of creating this piece, I learned that immersion in the piece and the dancer become one, it's a feeling I always feel when working with this company. By thinking more deeply, you can improve your understanding of the work and make your expressions more concrete. I felt how interesting it was that when the dancers unified their sense of purpose, their respective paths of life intersected through the work and they were moving in the same direction.”
Lawson Pinder: “I related to one moment in RITE "the take downs", more than anything else. And I know life really "do be throwing curve balls" but it's up to us what we do with those detours, either stay down or get back up. “
Richard Scandola: “Working on Rite had been challenging for me on multiple levels, physically, mentally and emotionally. It is a 45-minute-long work that doesn’t really stop, and you need to be in it so deeply at all times, in connection with the movement and the intentions while being interconnected with your own story. I am getting into it so deeply that it is triggering part of me that needs healing. So strongly that I would start crying on stage or backstage after ending it, releasing the scars of the traumas. I believe that dance, like any other art form, has the power to heal. To heal the one performing it and the one watching it”
Ethan Schweitzer-Gaslin: “RITE is truly a journey. It is both physically demanding to dance and has the power to elicit emotional reactions from those dancing it and those watching it. But at the end, we are left with a unique sense of peace in our own bodies and a unique sense of understanding of the experiences of those who danced with us.”
“RITE” will continue to make an impact on audiences across New York this year. Please join us in this ritual of Letting Go at The Center @ West Park, on Feb. 29-March 2! Save the Date!
