Do Challenges Help Create Magic Onstage?

By Robin Gilbert, Shelley Lynne Cummins, Carlos Fittante

On a showery Sunday afternoon on May 3rd, BALAM offered a new rendition of its story ballet, "Ramayana Abduction of Sita" in the 30th annual Asian/Pacific American Heritage Festival at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza in New York.With the rain gods in full force that day and the temperature hovering around 50 degrees, it was unpleasantly wet and cold.

The Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, named after the Nobel Peace Laureate, sits adjacent to the United Nations framing it like a modern-day temple. We the dancers and Islene Pinder, BALAM’s founding director, were all truly inspired by the venue, while the weather conditions conjured fond memories from past tours of monsoon downpours in the outdoor temples in Bali.

Imagine all the performing artists--(traditional Indian and Bollywood dancers, Japanese Kodo drummers, Chinese acrobats, rockers, singers and musicians and us)--dressing in a 10 x 10 foot tent. There was no place to put our things or to move around.

For hours we stood corralled in the tent that had inch deep puddles on the ground in our tightly bound Balinese costumes and headpieces. We were cold, wet, and unable to get comfortable. Also inside the tent was Ray, a beautiful 10-month-old baby boy, who along with his drummer mom stared at us curiously. Thank goodness for this "Ray" of sunshine in the tent! He made us smile and laugh, which help ground us before we performed.

In Bali the arts are believed to be offerings to the gods, who communicate to and fro throughout the performance. The Balinese also believe the gods will play tricks on you to test your composure and devotion. Without discussing it, we all seemed to recognize these challenging conditions: the cold, wet weather, the crowded uncomfortable dressing area, as BALAM’s test from the Balinese gods.

The performance that flowed through us was a powerful expression coming from our hearts and souls. We were five performers, who became one, and the connection was palpable. We also knew the audience, soggy underneath their umbrellas, felt it too. The challenging circumstances that surrounded us didn’t seem to matter in the least!

These questions stayed with us after our performance.
• Did we, as a team, become more sensitive to each other because of thechallenging conditions?
• Would we have transcended ourselves the way we did, if someone started to complain about the difficult conditions?
• Did something greater then ourselves grace us because of our collective good humorand good will?

Whatever the answers may be, we all felt truly grateful for the special performance we were able to create and for that beautiful rainy day!

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“Defining Diversity” Kicks Off BALAM’s 30th Anniversary Season

By Oxana Moskovenko

Defining Diversity, a spectacular performance presented on March 30 at Lehman College’s Lovinger Theatre, launched BALAM Dance Theatre’s (BALAM) 30th anniversary season. The audience and I were entertained by a colorful program of eight pieces highlighting Balinese, Spanish and Afro-Caribbean traditional dance styles with BALAM’s fusion repertoire.

Nani Devi, the company’s resident Balinese guest dancer, enchanted us, with her colorful Balinese costume and headpiece, as she performed an excerpt from Oleg Tambulilingan – a traditional Balinese love dance. Danced to gamelan music, this solo was a true representation of Balinese culture, with feelings internalized, distilled and then projected through theatrical techniques of subtle movements of the eyes, face, hands and arms.

Another electric performance that sparked a strong reaction from the audience was Fandango Fantasy, featuring dancer Carlos Fittante and Baroque violinist Leah Nelson. In this comedic duet, Fittante used Spanish castanets with contemporary dance movements to create a unique work. The violin’s alluring Fandango melody sparked a playful fantasy, transforming Fittante from a Wall Street executive to a leather-clad matador and the violinist throwing off her shawl to reveal a dominatrix character. The performance altered between fiery solos and sensual duets that enticed the audience, while making them laugh and blush at the same time.

Another segment highlighted a range of rhythms. Guest artist Barbara Romero, co-director of Danzas EspaZolas, performed the Spanish dance solo Caracoles Antigous, featuring exciting castanet playing. In Marcea Daiter’s Afro-Caribbean work, Haitian Myth and Village, live percussionists joined the Kaleidoscope of Kultures Dance Theater and the Harlem based teen group, Wadleigh Dance Ensemble. It was touching to see the teenage dance students performing on stage with professionals.

For me, the highlight of the performance was the world premier of Hip-Hop Hanuman. Choreographed by Fittante and dancer Aki Ohigawa, this piece depicted a playful, audacious super hero character inspired from the Hindu epic Ramayana dancing in a fantastic Balinese mask. The unexpected combination of dance styles gave the audience a sense of mischief and allowed a glimpse of the character’s defiant nature, expressed through edgy hip-hop movements that contrasted traditional Balinese and ballet techniques.

Other pieces featured BALAM’s prominent works like Tigerlily and the Dragonfly, with Robin Gilbert dancing on point representing an orange flower, and her dance partner Fittante wearing three-foot bamboo wings! That was contrasted sharply by Primordial Embers, a fusion of modern, ballet and Afro-Caribbean movements, performed to a driving jazz score.

BALAM’s meaningful signature work Ramayana – Abduction of Sita, featured dancer Shelley Lynne Cummins resuming her role as the alluring, sinister Golden Deer. I enjoyed the belly dance movements Ms. Cummins used for her character and thought it complemented the masculine, powerful karate movements used by her counterpart, Rahwana, the demon character performed by Toshinori Hamada.

The event also featured on stage dance lessons for student participants and a concluding question and answer session among the artists, faculty, students and the public. Defining Diversity blended cultural boundaries presenting performances that were truly unique and celebrated the unity of diverse spirits coming together in harmony through the art of dance.

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La-Tina Gets a Makeover

By Carlos Fittante

New works often require revisions to integrate fully the material. The evolution of La-Tina, a humorous masked solo that confronts the stereotype of the sexy Latin female, exemplifies BALAM’s organic choreographic process.

Originally. I created the piece in 2007 for the company’s principal dancer and ballerina, Robin Gilbert. This first interpretation of La-Tina presented a masked woman performing a cha-cha-cha on point that debuted in the Staten Island Second Annual International Dance Festival.

A year later, this piece underwent significant changes, when Robin danced the solo in high-heeled shoes, rather than point shoes. The high-heel shoe version allowed the character to move in a more cha-cha-cha/ballroom manner, and let Robin concentrate on the presentation of the Balinese mask.

In September 2008, I decided to explore the theme of gender inherent in the solo by stepping into the role in the DUMBO DANCE FESTIVAL. Before I could present this new version, several changes were made.

The piece’s first costume, a lace bell-bottom pants and halter-top outfit (see photograph 1), created by Edward Sylvia, did not fit me. I consulted Sylvia, an experienced designer of drag costumes, about how to transform myself into the character of La-Tina.

Using the same comedic Balinese mask, three inch red heels and Sylvia’s new, fabulous costume--an asymmetrical skirt and a padded halter-top decorated with ruffles--La-Tina in drag was born! (See photograph 2.)

To help define this new character’s mannerisms, I consulted with theatre director Laura Drake. She encouraged me to perform the solo without the padded halter-top, as she experienced the juxtaposition of a man in drag and bare-chested as being more transgressive.

In November 2008, I performed the solo, complete with the padded halter- top (see photograph 3), in Coney Island Cabaret presented at the Puffin Room in SoHo, New York. The piece was an audience favorite!

The verdict is still out: Should the drag version of the solo be performed with the padded halter-top or bare-chested?

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