Curated by artistic director Patrick Kennelly, Highways Performance Space recently revived its very popular NEW SHOES series featuring “new, short form movement-based works.” The series ran 2013 – 2019 but was interrupted by the pandemic. The young creators whose works were showcased on March 8 & 9, 2024 were Taylor Donofrio; Arletta Anderson and Adam Smith; Meg Madorin and Alex Rix; and Tsiambworn M. Akuchu. Although a couple of the pieces were rough around the edges, overall it was a pleasant evening of live theater.
New Shoes at Highways – (L-R) Poppy Miller and Liessa Son in “Betty” by Taylor Donofrio – Photo by Patrick Kennelly.
Taylor Donofrio is a graduate of the School of Dance at California Institute of the Arts which has been turning out a group of talented choreographers. Donofrio’s work, BETTY, was set to an original score by Squash & Biscuit, a creative sound studio, founded by Shuwen Zhao and Brian Griffith, along with an excerpt from the American girl group The Ronnettes’ 1963 hit single “Be My Baby.”
New Shoes at Highways – (L-R) Poppy Miller and Liessa Son in “Betty” by Taylor Donofrio – Photo by Patrick Kennelly.
Performed by dancers Liessa Son and Poppy Miller, BETTY opened with Miller dressed in dark blue shorts and light blue top, seated on the stage with her back to the audience. Balanced on top of her head was a stack of light blue plastic plates which Miller carefully removed one by one and placed on the floor around her. The tension increased as Miller moved along the perimeter of the space, placing one plate at a time down with an added sharp swipe to her right. I felt that she was clearly setting up a boundary but not yet revealing to us why.
Entered Son with her long dark hair pulled over her face and tied beneath her chin, totally hiding her face. She was simply a body, void of personality.
New Shoes at Highways – Liessa Son (front) and Poppy Miller in “Betty” by Taylor Donofrio – Photo by Patrick Kennelly.
The two women proceeded to move about the space, interacting and eventually ramping up the speed and anxiety between them. Miller seemed to be trying to protect Son by unsuccessfully pulling her back from the brink of a catastrophic event.
A couple of the middle sections of BETTY lost the opening’s mystery and tautness, but Miller eventually brought it all back into focus. And with the help of Lighting Designer Darren Carter, brought it to a well-timed and exciting conclusion.
The scenic consultant for BETTY was Yuki Ding.
New Shoes at Highways – Arletta Anderson and Adam Smith (andersmith) in “Canon” – Photo by Patrick Kennelly.
Arletta Anderson and Adam Smith (andersmith) choreographed Canon, a poignant work that incorporated spoken word, gestures, repetition, humor and music by Smith. Costumed in beige shorts and white shirts, andersmith managed what often comes across as awkward or uncomfortable, audience participation. They accomplished this by making us feel that we knew them and why we were there to hear them speak. This was aided with statements like “Thank you for coming” and “How’s the family.” Their gestures eventually came into focus and meaning during a dogmatic monologue by Arletta Anderson about God, the state, and society. For a few moments, Anderson was at a universal pulpit citing inclusion.
New Shoes at Highways – Arletta Anderson and Adam Smith (andersmith) in “Canon” – Photo by Patrick Kennelly.
andersmith’s timing and pacing throughout Canon was impeccable, as were the accuracy of their use of props, and repetitive gestures and movements. I look forward to seeing more of andersmith’s work.
New Shoes at Highways – Alex Rix and Meg Madorin in “fumblerumble’ – Photo by Patrick Kennelly.
The work fumblerumble by Meg Madorin and Alex Rix was a rambling rumble that fumbled until the end when it tumbled into an organized dance work. The first two-thirds of it came across as a composition class assignment making use of contact improvisation and manipulation. There were moments of excitement but these were repeated so often that they became predictable. It was only at the end when their relationship became clearer while dancing in unison to Billy Joel’s 1993 song “Goodnight, My Angel.”
New Shoes at Highways – (L-R) Meg Madorin and Alex Rix “fumblerumble” – Photo by Patrick Kennelly.
Other music for fumblerumble was “Low Rumble” White Noise Sounds.
New Shoes at Highways – (L-R) Tsiambwom M. Akuchu and Fabian Zuniga in “Alpha.Sigma.Alpha” – Photo by Patrick Kennelly.
Perfectly placed on the program, Alpha.Sigma.Alpha by Tsiambwom M. Akuchu was a terrific work about male competition and bonding stalwartly performed by Akuchu and Fabian Zuniga. Not coming across as formerly trained dancers, the two men, however, were fantastic movers who fused together street dance with inventive contemporary style movement. Their approach to “manliness or machoism” was not overplayed, nor was how they accepted one another for who they were to become best buds.
New Shoes at Highways – (L-R) Tsiambwom M. Akuchu and Fabian Zuniga in “Alpha.Sigma.Alpha” – Photo by Patrick Kennelly.
Akuchu and Zuniga’s Alpha.Sigma.Alpha was more than a work about personal dominance, it also reflected the current times we are living through – how if we look at our similarities and not just our differences, the world might become a better place for all.
The music for Alpha.Sigma.Alpha was Akuchu, Childish Gambion, and Colin Stetson. The very appropriate costumes were by Akuchu.
New Shoes at Highways – Tsiambwom M. Akuchu (above) and Fabian Zuniga in “Alpha.Sigma.Alpha” – Photo by Patrick Kennelly.
I for one welcome back NEW SHOES to Highways and look forward to what this next generation of dancemakers are envisioning.
The dynamic lighting design and technical work for NEW SHOES was by Darren Carter.
To learn more about Highways Performance Space and Gallery, please visit their website.
This article was edited to correct the spelling of a performer’s name on 4:14 March 13, 2024.
Written by Jeff Slayton for LA Dance Chronicle.
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