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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2011 > June > 21 > Entry
Review: Blue Lapis Light’s ‘Devotion’
Gliding out over the waters of Town Lake Sunday at dusk, a passenger on one of two Capital Cruises boats making its way west toward the old Power Plant Intake Building on the shore, I had more time than I’d had in a while to simply bask in my surroundings: Austin’s skyline all lit up, the Frost Tower its signature edifice; the sight of a lone swan floating between the boats; the sounds of a freight train rumbling on the bridge tracks over the lake; the feel of gliding over water.
I was here to experience Blue Lapis Light’s “Devotion,” a 45-minute site-specific aerial dance piece being performed by 15 artists under the direction of artistic and executive director Sally Jacques, with the help of an intricate system of harnesses, trapeze equipment and ropes, on the façade of the Power Plant Building. But ultimately, I was encountering something beyond the purely visual. Just my physical presence, out in the middle of the lake, the wind scrambling my hair and acting as a natural air conditioner in the heat of that night, was enough to make me feel new again.
In the opening moments of the performance, the company’s associate artistic director, Nicole Whiteside, performed a series of balletic movements on the ground just in front of the building while donning a dress that shimmered spectacularly in the floodlights; she then dove head first into the dark water before her. I could almost feel that sensation — the shock of being dry one minute and soaked the next.
Enter four rowers, each transporting a trapeze dancer. One by one, they mounted their trapeze equipment, calmly taking their seats on the thin bar-swings suspended by ropes, before being pulled up, up and away from the water until reaching a stomach-dropping height. In unison and in cannon, the four women bungeed from their swing-perches, all the while flanked by six “wall dancers” who resembled geckos stuck to the façade, their shadows seemingly multiplying the bodies occupying the space.
The music selection — ranging from Dido to Satie to Chopin to German DJ ATB — lent a dreamy atmosphere that could be heard just as easily by those of us on the boats as those audience members seated on the shore opposite the Plant, thanks to sound designer/operator William Meadows. The lighting and video projections (Jason Amato and Scott Hathaway, respectively) enhanced the natural landscape.
While a performance of this kind requires an expert technical crew and months of careful planning, it all seemed to go off effortlessly. While I could feel a small thrill in my stomach each time a dancer plunged from the sky downwards, it was the good kind of thrill — not the bad.
Claire Christine Spera is an American-Statesman freelance arts critic.
Photo by Amitava Sarkar.
Comments
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By M Fife
June 28, 2011 10:04 AM | Link to this
My experience echos the comments made by Ms. Long. I’ve seen many BLL productions and this one left me feeling disappointed due to the distance between the performers and those of us on land.
Side note: I was out of the country when BLL performed on the outer ring of the Long Center last fall. I hope they repeat that performance!! I’d love to see it.
By marnie long
June 24, 2011 8:16 AM | Link to this
I saw the performance last night, I sat with a group of six and watched from the bleachers ($28 seats) across the lake from the power plant. The performance looked pretty amazing, sadly sitting so far away it was REALLY hard to see even with the free of charge binoculars. I would highly recommend either renting a kayak and making a donation or getting the boat tickets. In my opinion it was very disappointing to be so far away as I feel like I missed a lot of the essence and amazingness of the show at that distance.