Philadelphia Inquirer reviews Hurdy Gurdy
Hurdy Gurdy. This piece by Miro Dance Theater delivers a mix of visual and aural brilliance and distinct choreographic signatures. This evocation of the life, loves and creative thinking of composer Gustav Mahler conjures both torturous and giddy relationships in a palette of purple and silver, black and white.
In the stunning opening, porcelain beauty Amanda Miller stands in an immense draped skirt on which are projected snippets of unidentified text. As Jessica Lang's choreography for Miller and Rick Callender unfolds, Callender dives into the sea of fabric of Miller's skirt as she hoists it with an air of cool abandon.
Miller's choreography for changing duos (three additional dancers complete the cast) relies on familiar partnering strategies and manipulations. Exquisite composite images abound, one with handheld, window-like screens and another showing a room's interior with moving foliage outside its windows.
Johannes Wieland's choreography for the final section sends dancing sparks flying with speed-demon urgency broken sharply by holds, retrogrades, and quirky segmented actions. It looks like an updated, androgynous take on the work's earlier musings.
Production values are superb, from Tobin Rothlein's painterly video projections to Carol Bailey's apt costuming and backdrop of shredded brocade, and Uri Caine and Peter Wyer's brilliant adaptations of Mahler orchestral and choral works, which slide naturally from traditional versions into such contemporary forms as klezmer and jazz.