Premiere New York Premiere
Country of Origin United States
Description Eiko & Koma's meditative, supremely elegant movement style calls up a host of organic images: the ebb and flow of life and tides, the slow breathing of plants and mountains. Richly layered in its meanings, their work provokes powerful sensations both calming and unsettling.
As they did in the 1997 Next Wave Festival with River, the duo brings an outdoor production into the atmospheric intimacy of the Harvey Theater. When Nights Were Dark is an indoor sequel to their recent alfresco Caravan Project, which involves a towable, self-contained, mini-theatrical space. The evolution of this project to the stage takes place in a cavelike structure that glows with fiery reds and oranges and icy blues as it glides and revolves toward the audience. Within this living installation (is it a bed? an altar? a hearse?), Eiko & Koma journey back to an ancient, nameless time, when dance and song were just forming, before the existence of technique or language. The two move as one, eloquently rippling, torquing, and arching, evoking an archaic landscape rich with primordial emotions. Throughout, Joseph Jennings' a cappella compositions are performed by an a cappella choir of five praise singers assembled by Tunesha Crispell, providing a memory-stirring wash of sound.
Identifier 2000f.00707
