KITH: A Moving Constellation of Kinship

by Janna Meiring

On the black marley floor is a constellation of words and drawings in chalk. A lone dancer quotes physicist Alan Lightman: “Imagine. A hundred thousand stars all concentrated together as a tight ball whizzing about like angry bees in a bee’s nest.” As she speaks, she slowly lunges forward, leading with the crown of her head, scoops and then arches backward, brings her arms out to her sides extending from the center of her chest. Her movement feels expansive, as if this globular light is emanating from her body.

In KITH, 3 PONY SHOW/keila cordova dances explores kinship through the metaphor of stars pulled together by the power of gravitational attraction. Six dancers swirl and spiral around each other in a tight cluster, which moves in a wide arc   from downstage right to far upstage center, as if they are hurling together through space. They revolve, affect, propel, and shift by curling their spines through a gap between an arm and leg, or leaning into contact to ground a reach. This cluster moves across the stage as I imagine a giant ball of stars must move together in space.

Another dancer demonstrates an aspect of human relationship that parallels the concept of “zero” in mathematics—“there is no I, you, or we in zero.” These short lessons in physics interweave with personal stories that were collected through an online survey. Both spoken and converted into movement sequences, the stories reflect individuals being sustained through hard times by a close friend, having people you can always rely on to hold you accountable, or creating your own network of family that “may as well be blood.”

3 PONY SHOW/keila cordova dances, under the direction of Cordova, artfully balances a state of constant movement with sustained presence. Fusing movement scores with a music compilation of old folk songs, bluesy guitar rhythms, and nostalgic piano, KITH leaves a feeling of appreciation for the expansive constellation of stars within and around a single human experience—the truth of which can only be encountered through the constant gravitational push and pull of the people in our lives.  

KITH, 3 PONY SHOW/keila cordova dances, Conwell Dance Theatre, Temple University, Sept. 14-16,  http://fringearts.com/event/kith/

By Janna Meiring
September 18, 2017