DANCING, CHICAGO STYLE
Lane Alexander and Kelly Michaels had an idea: to combine tap and modern dance in their choreography. They formed a dance company–Alexander Michaels/Future Movement, or am/FM–to showcase their works. But because the two forms have traditionally varied in both audience appeal and artistic goals, there’s an automatic tension built into the combination.
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Modern dance, on the other hand, has its roots in ideas: Isadora Duncan, when she shed her corset, wanted to liberate the spirit along with the body. The early modern-dance choreographers created dances with messages, protesting society’s injustices, and technique was a tool–a means to action, not an end in itself. Eventually this preoccupation with ideas led to the equivalent of conceptual art: postmodern dance dealt only with the concept of movement. Experimental dances at New York City’s Judson Church in the 60s often didn’t even use the trained bodies of “real” dancers, incorporating natural movement instead, including that of randomly chosen pedestrians.
Alexander’s choreography shows the same conscious nod to the audience, but he adds more. . . . 33 1/3 . . . 45 . . . 78 . . ., a duet in three parts, begins elegantly a la Astaire with Alexander and Michaels in tuxes dancing suavely in unison. The tempo picks up in the second part, when the two return to the stage minus their tails, and zooms full speed ahead in the final section, when their cummerbunds are gone and their shirts are hanging open. The laid-back costuming contrasts with the furious dancing to keep up with the music–a tour de force tap performance, especially on Alexander’s part. With each new section, the audience leans further forward, watching more intensely.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Mike Canale.
