Dance Collective's 30th

BY MARCIA B. SIEGEL

Boston Phoenix

Excerpt

Although it wasn't overtly stated, my colleague Thea Singer saw the whole evening as a tribute to Dawn Kramer, who is retiring as a director and perhaps as an active contributor to Dance Collective as well. Kramer has been a solid creative force there since its founding. Walk in Progress is her successful 2001 collaboration with Sean Curran in absentia. The premise is charming: Curran is now in New York with a company of his own, so the team video'd a duet that begins with playful walking and soft-shoe that was accompanied on stage by bassist John Clark. Then Kramer steps out of the video and duets with the taped Curran. When her video image joins them, they make a trio.

This dance starts you thinking about the logistics of fine dancemaking and the possibilities of dancing on into your mature decades. Kramer continued this theme in her new solo De/Reconstruction, which was in essence a meditation on bowing. The simple nod of the head, the sweeping, grandiose response to an ovation, the affected modesty that brings out even more applause, the stopped-action moments as the performer clings to her glory, the real or imaginary collapse when the lights go out.

Issue Date: September 26 - October 2, 2003