Mozongi
Compagnie danse Nyata Nyata
At the du Maurier Theatre Centre
in Toronto on Friday
Gravity
Hideo Araj and GaPa
At the Music Gallery
in Toronto on Saturday
Percussion is the common element of two outstanding weekend dance performances.
In Mozongi, a trio by Montreal-based choreographer Zab Maboungou, the heart-searing drums propel the work with primeval, hypnotic rhythms from the African heartland. And Gravity, by Tokyo choreographer Hideo Arai and his Montreal collaborators, GaPa, uses a dizzying array of percussive instruments as an evocative, cinematic soundtrack. What both performances share is the gorgeous simplicity of a body in space reacting to a musical instinct that has its roots in the very beginning of humankind.
Maboungou is of Franco-Congolese descent and is a pioneer in the fusion of African and contemporary dance. Her company is named after nyata, the word for "stamp your feet," which is the epicentral concept of Mozongi, a homage to the collective unconscious of Africa and its diaspora.
Maboungou is also a poet and philosopher and her works run deep. Mozongi means "those who come back," and in Maboungou's piece are clearly the ghostly ancestors who keep alive the shared heritage of people of African descent. Thus, in Mozongi, the rhythm of dance is a metaphor for all that is uniquely African.
The work approaches the ancient cultural urges that transcend time in a unique way. Her three marvellous dancers (Karla Etienne, Claudine Malard and Amy Shulman) move in a staggered syncopation, stamping out rhythms with their feet, hands and bodies, compelled by some primordial force.
They rarely, however, move exactly the same way, and one's eye is drawn to the dancer who has shifted direction or changed an arm movement. By this clever choreographic device, Maboungou has made us conscious of the passage of time, yet of commonality.
The same is true of the rhythms pounded out by excellent percussionists Dominic Donkor and Georges Rodriquez, as one drum changes sound in a subtle shift, and then the other, but always tied together. The tour de force dance -- though raw, at times almost ugly -- is also passionate and fierce.
The musical duo GaPa is comprised of acclaimed percussionists Patrick Graham and Ganesh Anandan. To match the floating movements of the captivating, whimsical, elfin Arai, they have created a score that sings with the lightness of being. Occasionally there is a harsh, percussive stroke, but they also use flutes, pipes, bells and marimbas for a bubbling confection of sound.
The Gravity of the title must be explained, because Arai is anything but. His vocabulary tool is " noguchi taisou," a form of gymnastics that uses the gravity of nature. This does not mean weight, but pull, such as the moon drawing forth the tidal waters. Arai is able to make his body seem paradoxically boneless and spineless, yet strong and firm.
Like Maboungou, Arai also conveys profound thoughts through simplicity of form. Gravity is a series of charming and, at times, haunting movement-musings that employ minimalist props. For example, in the dark, we are aware that Arai is moving, and suddenly we see sparks of light from cigarette lighters appearing hither and yon to create the vignette Firefly.
Puppet is the mimicking of a marionette, but such is Arai's creativity, one swears that strings are manipulating him. In Spiral, a naked light bulb becomes a metaphor for an intense desire, and Arai's delicate movements speak of loss and pain, and his yearning arms are a heartbreaking image as the bulb is raised out of his reach.
Maboungou with the heaviness of sound, Arai with the lightness of air -- and both with works that touch the soul.
Gravity will be performed at Montreal's Tangente on March 21-24. Mozongi will tour Atlantic Canada this summer, and the rest of the country next season.