Dorfman dance makes political statement

By Kate Pracher
COPY EDITOR

Photos submitted by Laura Frank David Dorfman and his dance compant performed at Hartwell Hall Sept. 18, 19 and 20. His dance made the audience wonder how active they are as citizens.

While both David Dorfman Dance company members and numerous SUNY Brockport students were warming up backstage Sept. 18, 19 and 20, David Dorfman himself was warming up the audience.

 Dorfman performed while the audience entered the Hartwell Theater. His movement vocabulary prepared the audience for what was coming next: his piece “underground.” Dorfman’s movement traveled only on the diagonal line of the stage and included the repetitive action of throwing himself on the floor and a stationary shape on the floor with one fist raised in the air.

This movement was seen later throughout “underground,” which was performed by nine company members, including Dorfman and 20 Brockport dance students.

The piece brings to mind the violent social revolution in America in the 1960s.  It investigates the actions of the radical student group known as the Weathermen or the Weather Underground.  It also parallels young people’s political actions in the ’60s and ’70s to young people’s actions today.

All of the music used was composed by Jonathan Bepler and ranged from pounding thrash rock to peaceful melodies played on the harp.

The set was simple: it consisted of a brick wall backdrop complete with pipes.  Throughout the piece, various clips of the documentary The Weather Underground were projected against the back wall. The piece began with all company members on stage in street clothes with a spotlight on the middle of the stage. 

“Does what you do make a difference?” argued Karl Rogers, a company member.

The company members danced with ease and fluidity all the while emitting a sense of tension in their bodies.  You could easily tell by the thrashing of their limbs that an outside force was pulling them in multiple directions.

At certain times throughout “underground,” Rogers served as an announcer or reporter.  He asked difficult questions like “In a violent world, can you fight for peace? Is violence ever justified? Is your country worth killing for? Is your family worth killing for?” while other company members answered him.

Extreme tension could be seen between Rogers as a reporter and the group of dancers who served as the Weathermen.  The dancers saw him as an outsider.

In the question and answer session after the performance, the issue of the reporter was brought up although the audience was ultimately left to form their own opinions about Rogers as the reporter.

“Certainly the indictment of journalism is involved,” Rogers said.

Throughout the piece, audience members were forced to reflect on their place, as a citizen as well as their contributions to this world.

One particular Dorfman dancer started the chant “I’m apathetic!” onstage.  The stage quickly filled with dancers from both Dorfman company members and Brockport dance students, while the dancer explained why he was apathetic. During this explanation, the dancers started to fall to the floor one by one.

In one of the most chilling sections of “underground,” one dancer continually spoke of violence that is deemed OK by our country’s standards.

“People are so insensitive about human life,” said Molly Poerstel, a Dorfman company member.  “Did you know I could kill someone and still be a moral person?  It’s simple: you kill, you save. It’s about responsibility.”

Brockport dance students mixed in with company members so well in many sections of the piece it was hard to tell them apart. The dancers moved across the stage in horizontal lines performing complex movements sometimes in unison, sometimes not in unison.  The same emotion could be seen in all of their bodies: determination.

The piece ended with a section of dancers examining another dancer who was in a still shape on the floor with one fist raised in the air, a shape that Dorfman used earlier even before the piece began. Other dancers came up to this still dancer and were curious about him.

 “What did it do?” the dancers asked. “Did it do something? Oh, he’s one of those activists!”

After contemplating for a while, the group decided to pick him up and see if he could still do anything.  They tried throwing him into the space, but with no result.  He simply flopped back on the floor. The dancers began cheering him on, however, and he soon gained enough strength to raise his fist in the air.  The cheering grew louder as he gained even more strength.

“Come on, you’re gonna do something!  Keep going!” the dancers said.

The piece left the audience wondering if they were doing enough as citizens. The last scene, however, shows that Dorfman has hope for the young people of America today.

Although students today are certainly less politically involved than students were in the ’60s, Dorfman said there is an extreme amount of intelligence and hope in today’s young people.

“I would like people to leave the theater thinking about hope and the idea of activity,” Dorfman said.  “I like when art gets somebody going.”