FLUID MEASURE PERFORMANCE COMPANY
Fluid Measure bills itself as Chicago’s oldest performance-art company. Formed in 1980 as a collective that included current member Patricia Pelletier, Fluid Measure re-formed in 1987 with Pelletier, Kathleen Maltese, and Donna Mandel, and they presented Three Who Travelled, an evening-length work about three sisters whose oppressive intimacy provoked emotional violence. The same premise served Fluid Measure for two other collaborative pieces created in 1990, We Three and We Like It Here, which were also presented in this “New Works” concert.
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In We Three, Maltese, Mandel, and Pelletier pretend to be sisters. They look enough alike for the audience to fall for it at first; but they look different enough that the audience finally figures out the trick. The three act out sisterly love and rivalry. Two embrace, and move fluidly out of the embrace to embrace the other “sister.” Suddenly, instead of embracing, one sister bites another’s hand. The one with the bitten hand pouts for a moment but goes on with the shifting embraces. Injuries are noted and dropped, but not forgotten or forgiven.
The slyly humorous We Three and We Like It Here both integrate stories and dancing. Their wit is what immediately engages an audience. To see the more profound meanings requires repeated viewings.
Using these props, Mandel makes a powerfully emotional dance about grief and loss. While she’s dancing with the knife, Melcori comes forward to tell the audience about how upset the musicians are about the knife. Mandel finally drops it, saying, “I would never . . . ” The musicians sing the phrase in a sort of motet. Mandel puts her head on each musician’s shoulder, but each pulls away. Finding no sympathetic shoulder, Mandel is finally left with no place to lay her head. So she puts it on thin air–and drops, catching herself before she hits the floor. She repeats this as the lights fade.
This concert clearly shows several new strengths for Fluid Measure to develop: Maltese’s newfound poetic skills and tight dance construction; Pelletier’s storytelling and humor; Mandel’s newly emotional movement style. It also shows life and art mingling and reflecting each other–like a successful family producing brilliant children, these artists have produced seamless ensemble work. When they were ready to develop their individual sensibilities, the “family” didn’t hinder but supported them. And the world is a much richer place.
