Blindsightedblindsidedblindsitedblindcited- The Laboratory Dancers

This dance performance, which I saw on Friday, February 12 at the Hamlin Park Fieldhouse, exhibited two new works by choreographers/dancers Alexandra Subak and Emily Lukasewski.

The first piece, "Omgroflttyl", by Emily Lukasewski, was about the influence of advertising on our society, specifically the negative impact this has on our self-esteem and self-image. It was a relatively literal interpretation, with shiny costumes and a band of very-nearly-the-same dancers, who danced together as a group, performed the same movements, occasionally felt the same anxieties- this being the group who had bought into societies expectations on how we look and act and feel. On the side, a single girl sat on a chair, flipping through a magazine, with ads falling out, eventually taping her face with packing tape into the 'correct' shapes and proportions, until she was wearing a whole mask of tape and lipstick was smeared all around her mouth- this being the girl whose life is destroyed by the weight of society's expectations. This piece was flashy, and the interpretation was pretty obvious, even for those not well-versed in dance making.

The second piece, "Alloveragainalloveragainallover", by Alexandra Subak, was much more subtle, the colors were more subdued, and it focused more intensely on not measuring up or meeting our full potentials. Our society has a stigma against those who don't fully reach their potential, on those who choose to work in 'dead-end' jobs, and are content there, not making as much money as they could. This piece felt like running into a brick wall- as a society, we keep hammering away at what we think we should be achieving and what we think we should be creating and living up to, and it just becomes so much to live up to, that it's almost too much very often. This choreography in this piece didn't make the point as clear, and it felt very often repetitive, and a little too long. I felt like the point could have been made more clearly or more succintly.