Company Wayne McGregor (Chia-Yu Hsu) in “Autobiography”, Photo by Ravi Deepres
There are technological aspects of this work that intrigue me greatly, which I do not understand in any precise way. In Autobiography, presented by Company Wayne McGregor at Fall for Dance North, choreographer Wayne McGregor has delved into his own personal archive of significant paraphernalia and memory to inform 23 sections of movement created in collaboration with, and for, 9 dancers. Each of these are meant to reflect the 23 chromosomes of his DNA. And here is where it gets bewildering to me: these sections are fed into an algorithm designed by Nick Rothwell which reflects McGregor’s own genetic code and determines the specific material the audience will see at any given performance.
McGregor’s “body as archive,” regardless of how fully I grasp the specifics of the, uh, algorithmic determinism, is a dynamic and intensely ambient work. Ben Cullen Williams’ set, rows of wireframe pyramids suspended above the dancers, is an ominous presence throughout, becoming particularly menacing as it descends, eventually trapping a few of them against the stage floor, mere inches from their faces.
The mood and aesthetic of each segment is varied, somethings jarringly so, yet consistently complimentary. The depth of the space is used to elicit compelling visual tension as bodies in motion are separated, aligning harmoniously, but then breaking off in counterpoint. Jlin’s music is similarly eclectic—a soundtrack that shifts from melodic, almost classical sounds to a discordant, atonal fusion of clanks and cracklings. Lucy Carter’s lighting defines the adapting atmosphere, seems almost to alter the physical reality of the space itself. Figuring prominently is a bank of narrow, versatile modular light bars suspended over the stage which pulse and gleam, caught in the billowing haze. The gestalt is frequently moist and subterranean.
Autobiography is an innovative, cerebral and hypnotic work that makes persuasive, well-integrated use of the audio-visual landscape it sculpts.
