Repertory

Resilience (2008)

This quintet was inspired by the many stories of the resilient nature of people’s survival in war-torn countries and a sculpture created by Polish-born artist Magdalena Abakanowicz. Much like the sculpture, the five dancers begin in an alert warrior stance, surveying the horizon. The haunting flute and vocal duet from traditional Indonesian music accompanies the dancers’ strong and aggressive movements. As the dancers weave through and around each other, they appear to challenge each other with feats of physical preparation and endurance. The dance resolves with a calm vigilance as the ensemble gathers in tight proximity to scan their surroundings a final time.

Tomorrow, Greener Grass (2007)

This sextet has two sections and reflects on the duality of immigration: the sacrifice and hardship in leaving the familiarity of one’s homeland, followed by the great hope of a better life. The dancers wear rough, earth-toned smocks as they climb and support each other in the first section and move through space with big circular movements in section two. The music of Tin Hat Trio evokes a plodding, traveling motif, followed by a buoyant, jubilant celebration of community.

Chair Suite (2007-2008)

This tryptich includes solo, duet and group sections that use a variety of chairs. The subtitles are: Coffin, Along the Way and Orange Alert. The solo begins with an overstuffed chair placed center stage and a dancer’s hands appearing over the edge, grasping and releasing. As the dance progresses the soloist tips the chair off its legs into every imaginable orientation and the chair becomes a space ship, a raft, a turtle shell and a coffin. This section was inspired by a short story by Julio Cortazar, entitled Properties of an Armchair.

The duet revolves around a bar stool, which represents a habitual approach to relationships that keeps this couple in pain and unable to see each other as they are. They dance together and lift each other, but remain disconnected and unchanged.

In the group section, metal folding chairs are carried in as backpacks, measuring devices, guitars and armor, as this motley group appears to be embarking on a plane trip. An airport security voice interrupts ragtime music to warn the travelers of danger, but they continue with their carefree oblivion.

Disability Romp (2006)

This dance is choreographed to a collage of poignant, humorous text by playwright Frankie Krainz, with sound design by Seth Golan. A satirical investigation of the craziness of the world we live in, it questions who is really insane. The dance begins with a reading of the questions on a disability application, which would take an intelligent, lucid writer more than a week of diligent writing to complete. The dancers, dressed in hospital gowns, move to the rhythm and emotion of the words. A highlight of this piece is when the reader bursts into a Mary Tyler Moore Christmas Carol and four women dancers enter with hats that get tossed high into the air. In the final section, we meet “bandage boy” whose addiction is to cover himself with ace bandages and Stay Free mini-pads in order to protect himself from the insensitivity of the world.

Improvisation

The 940 company frequently performs improvisations in public spaces and theaters and believes this is an accessible and fun branch of modern dance to share with the public. The company builds improvisation skills weekly which enhance the dancers’ ability to respond in the moment. “Sportscaster Improvisation” developed by David Ollington, has an educational twist with two commentators describing the action in this lively spoof of sports. In “Space and Time”, one dancer establishes a spatial movement pattern that is repeated and other dancers add in one at a time, creating an exciting traffic pattern with near misses. Another favorite is “Diving and Falling”, where the dancers surprise each other with falls and handstands and their fellow dancers run to support them and guide them back to their feet.