LSP Environmental Studies Community Event Reports

On Thursday, December 4th, I attended a performance with two friends that was held at 7:30pm at The Tank, which is a small theater located at 217 East 42nd street. Ann Keilson and Collaborators presented the show and it was an alternative approach to exploring the origins of life and the process of evolution. The venue is a non-profit arts presenter and serves as the host for a wide-range of productions. The Tank’s mission is to allow artists with new ideas to showcase their work in an inexpensive, resourceful, shared and hospitable way. The Tank aims to help the younger generation create a following for budding artists, live shows and community dialogue. Nine college graduates founded The Tank in 2003 with the desire to seize a space of New York City that is dedicated solely to the cultivation of artists without the issues of money, competition and exclusivity taking priority. Over the past five years, the organization has grown from being a group of volunteers to utilizing a paid staff with support from foundations and government.
The show took place on the floor with a circle of chairs lined up against the walls of the theater for the audience to sit in. With only about 35 people in attendance, the show felt personal and organic. There were three women who danced and another two people to assist with the lighting and musical aspects of the show. With a total of five people contributing to the presentation, it was low-key and modest and the emphasis was entirely focused on the movements of the dancers. The lighting remained dim throughout the show, which added a sense of drama, passion and intensity. Each woman wore a simple outfit that had no attention grabbing accessories or colors. This helped direct the focus to their facial expressions and body language. Their dance began with crawling and creeping motions and each woman appeared to be dancing on her own with no relation to the others. Gradually, the movements transitioned into some small steps and lunges and then finally into full-fledged strides and walking. In between some of the movements, the woman did some kicking and jumping that seemed a bit out of place with the majority of actions in the performance. The dance lasted for 45 minutes and by the end, the women were visibly drained, which showed how strenuous the movements were for that long of a period. When the dance was finished, the audience was welcomed to stay and chat with the dancers and hang out. We spoke with one of the dancers to gain a sense of her personal feelings about the performance and what it meant to her. She clarified that the sometimes erratic movements within the dance were supposed to represent the evolution of insects and how many different kinds of creatures developed that had different ways of moving. The dancer also explained that some of the motions were meant to symbolize the gradual extinction of certain species and how it can be random and inexplicable. She was very forthcoming with her ideas and thoughts about the dance and the conversation brought a nice close to the experience.
I had never been to such a small and up close dance production with that sort of a message and theme behind it so this experience was completely new to me. The event showed me a brand new way to look at evolution, a process that had always seemed so straightforward and scientific to me, that involved movements instead of facts and data. Although I enjoy watching dance performances and dancing for fun, I do not think that I would want to attempt what these women did with their thoughtout dance and message. I am not sure the show has value in the academic community but it was a worthwhile event to go to in order to witness a new form of expression. The purpose of The Tank and the events it hosts are positive contributions to the community and make it possible for artists to get their message out to the public in a forum that is personal and inviting. Since the show was meant as a way to convey the artists’ ideas and viewpoint with room for interpretation, I believe it was successful in getting the desired message across. It was plain to see that the women were moving in ways that they felt represented animal and human evolution. The shows that take place at The Tank are meant to put out ideas in an affordable way so in order to broaden the impact, there would need to be a larger venue that has the same goals and values that would have the capacity to host more people in the audience.
I enjoyed the event because it was a brand new experience and I went to it with friends, which made it easier to talk about after the show was finished. It was helpful to hear some perspectives that were different than mine from my friends and also from the dancer that we spoke to when the dance was over. The venue itself was intriguing and it’s history and mission added to the overall experience. I think the purpose of The Tank is helpful in generating new ideas and giving a voice to young artists.

On a rainy December evening in Midtown a trio of dancers began to perform “Forward” at the Chashama Theatre on 217 E 42nd Street. Inside the warm, dimly lit theatre was not the regular Times Square crowd nor the flashy Broadway scene, but rather an intimate gathering of New York’s modern dance enthusiasts. It was the sort of place you had to search for- and once you found the Chashama, you immediately became part of an underground dance movement. The chairs were arranged in an intimate circle with about twenty to thirty guests in attendance.
The show was put on by a non-profit arts presenter called “the TANK” founded in April 2003 by nine college graduates who wanted to bring the arts to the people at an affordable price. Their mission statement reads “The Tank seeks to cultivate a new generation of audience for life performances, civic discourse, and the work of emerging artists.”

But, wait, some of you might be wondering- isn’t this supposed to be an environmental community event report and not a review of a small performance? Well, “Forward” by Ana Keilson and Collaborators explored the topic of evolution. In true Darwin homage, Keilson explores the process of evolution from the animal kingdom to the emergence of humans. Her movement vocabulary simulated the movement of bugs, bipeds, and bodies in various stages of development. In an interview of Keilson afterwards, she conveyed that her goal was to show a simultaneous evolution of different species with a specific focus on Neanderthals. She wanted to portray this as a long-drawn out process to symbolize the billions of years over which evolution has taken place. The idea of “change” for Keilson was an important concept to base her movement off of. The natural change of physical forms in the evolution of animals was important to Keilson.

As the show began, three bodies writhed on the floor as the sounds of a distant rainforest began to permeate the space. The room was stuffy almost reminiscent of a wet and dark rainforest with light appearing intermittedley. As the lights turned on and off, appeared and reappeared, it made me wonder if we are still in the dark about evolution? If appearance of light hinted at a beginning of understanding of evolution- do we have further to go?
The dancers wore muted Earth tones ranging from mauve, faded yellow, and a dirt brown. At times the dancers would stop in unison and scan the audience- almost as if our participation was interactive. Our watching was intimate- we took place in this process of evolution. Could Keilson be hinting at an anthropogenic cause that has effected evolution? Maybe.
While watching the choreography among the three individuals it is easy to observe the process of natural selection. At first the three dancers are all mimicking each other: crawling, writhing, kicking, and isolating movements. Then one seems to develop wings while another doesn’t- and at the end of the two-minute sequence both have developed wings. This begs the question: what are the three things must a trait have in order to be chosen for natural selection? It has to be advantageous, inheritable, and there must be variable difference in population. The wings were clearly advantageous in this development. This wasn’t the only instance that natural selection was practiced for the dancers: the process was repeated for the development of the backbone or vertebrae, the tail of the fish, and the transition from quadruped to biped.
Although evolution is an organic process, the movements tended to stray away from any fluidity. It almost seemed as if the movement of these organisms were processed and calculated. The intermittent kicks were all to rehearsed and the movement vocabulary seemed to be lacking an diversity. It took away from the concept!
Overall, it was an interesting event that elicited discussion about the process of evolution- and how far different species have come. It was fascinating to understand the concept behind the movement. So much of evolution is misunderstood and misused, and I felt that evolution can be showed as a beautiful progression. I enjoyed attending this event and it is definitely an experience I will never forget.
For information on the tank visit: www.thetanknyc.org