Project: Gallery 1

PhilaGallery 5K Photo Essay

I attended Leah Stein Dance Company’s performance entitled, “Splice,” on September 20th, 2014, which was held at the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery in University City. The performance explored the relationship between movement and sound. Upon entering the gallery, you walk into an amazing installation of spiraling wood material, which looks like either a film reel or a flapping ribbon, which winds around the gallery filling the space. The project was inspired by the tension between woods. The performance is a union of the body, sound, and the installation, which was described as the heart of the performance. The combination of these three things created an amazing performance that provoked thoughts on how we perceive sound and how that sound relates to movement. The performance was done by four dancers; Leah Stein, JungWoong Kim, David Konyk, and Michele tantoco. All four dancers brought their own story to the performance and yet all also tie back in with each other to create a harmonious experience. I felt that JungWoong Kim’s contribution was absolutely captivating. He has trained in martial arts and traditional Korean dance, and this shows through in his movement.

Even Before the performance begins, there is already a feeling of movement created through the wood spiraling throughout the room. Every single section of the gallery is filled with this beautifully polished wood. It appears as if it is floating, but when one looks close they will see that it is strung up by clear string.

Other views take the time before the performance to explore the room. Everyone has a look of amazement as they explore the space. I overheard questions of fellow viewers questioning how the dancers might incorporate the installation. I myself kept thinking that the wood itself looked like it was dancing.

Each angle offers a new look on the installation: a different perspective. In the areas that have less loops, I noticed less people gravitated towards. It was almost like the movement of the wood reflected the movement of the viewers. These sections had more of a calm feeling.

The gallery attendees usher us to find a seat right before the performance began. They informed us that unfortunately we would not be able to take photographs of the performance. However they did kindly pass out cushions for everyone to sit on.

Here is a shot of everyone patiently awaiting the performance. Anticipation hangs in the air, as everyone prepares themselves for the show they are about to experience.

During the performance, the dancers were slowly introduced. They made sounds into the wood in response to each other in what seemed to be a random occurrence. The spoke words, knocked on the wood, plucked the strings, and hummed. All the while a strange rumbling sound was coming from somewhere. The dancers moved around the room mimicking the movement of the wood.

After about 15 minutes, the audience is ushered to come over to the wood and put our ears to the wood. As the performers make their sounds and tap the wood, we listen in amazement. Hearing the vibrations of the wood traveling throughout the piece was an enlightening experience. We the audience now understood the purpose of the sound and its relationship to the wood. It is quite hard to describe what was heard in the wood, as it sounded almost alien. It was amazing how the sound would loop around as it was carried throughout the wood installation. It certainly made me think about what kind of relationship movement and sound have.

The show ended, and the audience buzzed with feedback. Everyone had just experiences something that was not only visually stimulating but also intrigued our sense of sound. I would describe this as a full body experience. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it raised some very interesting questions about movement and sound.