Thrown into the pages of a comic book, two femme superhero-like characters deliver punches and land blows to a sound score of WHACKs and THWAPs. The wind-sweeping battle turns into a playful catfight, which morphs into a fiercely sensual duet that is entangled with desire, temptation and resistance. It oozes with extraordinary power through both physical strength and sexuality. The competition in Erin Kilmurray & Kara Brody’s “Knockout” is cutthroat, but it’s the attraction that may be fatal…
Week 2 of the Dance Center of Columbia College’s Chicago Artist Spotlight Festival features the prowess of independent artists’ whose works could easily expand into separate evening-length presentations. Alas, a tantalizing taste of J’Sun Howard, Erin Kilmurray & Kara Brody and SJ Swilley’s experimental repertoire was presented on Apr. 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Sitting in the round on the stage, audience members are intimate spectators at a boxing ring; Kilmurray & Brody are engaged in a face-off. Eyes shooting lasers, they size one another up while circling like two pumas about to pounce. The energy is as charged as the radio static that plays over the speakers. Kilmurray & Brody neither lose focus nor let the intensity drop, so much that the observers may find themselves wrought with the same tension, hanging on to the intoxicating relationship that becomes more complex as it forges on. It’s nothing short of an adrenaline rush.
Turning to SJ Swilley’s (they/them) “Who is SJ?” we come to understand that “process is WORK.” The “k” sound crackles as they stand on an empty stage, only a suitcase overflowing with clothing in the corner. As the suitcase suggests, we are mid-journey, watching an artistic process unfold. An unidentifiable voice calls out, “Where does the name SJ come from?” Swilley’s answer is an introspective churning and stirring of torso and limbs, then the pulsing and bouncing of house steps: They provide a physical response before a vocal one.
Swilley invites us to witness vulnerable self-exploration and choreographic excavation as they curate movement and express thoughts that surface organically. Granting us access to their stream of consciousness, Swilley showcases the laborious efforts of an actively composing artist, from answering questions about identity to searching for meaning within the dancing body—and even recording the process. “This stuff is worth grant money, right?” Swilley asks. Laughter and shouts from the audience affirm support of their research.
"Nocturne,” with Timothy "Solomon" Bowser and J'sun Howard
Howard’s “take carefully (or the world shatters when you don’t find your loved ones): Anemoia” begins upon entrance to a separate room within the Dance Center. A tent of delicate fabric with a mutating kaleidoscope projected onto one side encompasses two performers in a pink glow. Petals and oranges are strewn across the floor, and as Sungjae Lee peels a piece of fruit, you can smell the citrus. It is a small container of peace and paradise you can walk around, with Lee and Damon D. Green floating within its confines, as if there was no gravity inside.
The second part of Howard’s presentation, “Nocturne,” comes later in the evening and proves another example of adept atmosphere-building. Under softly shifting purple and blue lights, smoke suspending in the air, Timothy "Solomon" Bowser and Charles Pierson swirl like cursive writing through the liminal space. Bowser lunges and rebounds with a catch and release like deep inhales and exhales. Gaze to the sky, Pierson spins like a gust of wind, wrists circling above him, leading into a short but liberating vogueing sequence. Through continuous, virtuosic exertion, they each simultaneously achieve a spirit of freedom.
Every piece was carefully crafted and packed a punch, and the performers masterfully navigated the worlds created. The artistic output of Kilmurray & Brody, Howard and Swilley were meaningful and exciting, setting a high standard for what performance art can be and say about process, product and the relationships that are essential to them.
“Knockout” by Erin Kilmurray & Kara Brody; “take carefully (or the world shatters when you don’t find your loved ones)” by J’Sun Howard and “Who Is SJ” by SJ Swilley were presented on Friday, Apr. 26-27, at 7:30 p.m., at the Dance Center of Columbia College (1306 S Michigan Ave). For more information, please click the event link below.
