On an unseasonably warm autumn evening, Mariah Eastman’s Darvin Dances got us in the spirit of the spooky season. “Halloween Creepy Crawlies,” performed on October 11 at Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, transported the audience into a Halloween Universe. A surprise audience participation opens the show, and an adult with skeleton attire and makeup accompanies two Ballerina Witches wearing all black and performing head-to-toe stretches, a comedic preamble that set the tone for the night—feel good vibes from start to finish. (It also was educational, as fun facts were shared about the bones in our body.)
The piece opens with a soloist laying on the ground downstage. The blue lighting paired with her tattered white dress and headband allow us to immediately identify she’s a ghost. A grinning, legged jack-o-lantern in green pants and a large flowing top enters upstage, and the ghost and the pumpkin switch between synchronized patterns of choreography and improvisation. Their hands form claws, their arms are like the wings of a crow, and they scuttle to the sounds of classic, eerie Halloween music. Adding to the sensation of a fairytale, a man in black with a skeleton top and wearing black shades begins to narrate. We learn that the ghost is Mallory, a young girl unknowingly transported from her haunted house on Spooky Ave. to the distant land of Candy Corn Valley. With the guidance of Jake the jack-o-lantern and a map, she hopes to make it back home in time for Halloween. Seeing these spooky symbols come to life quickly submerges us into Eastman’s creepy-crawly story.
Of course, Eastman includes some creepy effects. After Mallory becomes disoriented, she wanders across four performers in loose black clothes moving as if they share one body, with everyone’s timing, energy, texture and spacing in perfect sync. When Mallory appears, the quartet form a dome-shaped structure upstage. The lights change from cold, dead blue to a warm, lively red as a soloist emerges, their red and yellow scarf streaming as if giving off flames that illuminate the night. They all join Jake for a ghoulish celebration in the forest—the icing on the cake is the appearance of five adorable Foggy Forest Fairies showing off their elongated tendus and spinning pirouettes.
Eastman doesn’t choreograph to one movement style but instead presents a mixture of ballet, jazz and modern dance. After the party dies down, the narrator returns, and we learn about a candy stealing war between the Modern Mummies and the Jazzy Vampires. Two crimson clad creatures of the night sneak downstage to mingle in a snazzy duet as one Mummy crouches and crawls like Shmegal from “Lord of the Rings” across the stage behind them—let the Candy Stealing War commence!
Like Dorthy in Oz, Mallory and her new pack of friends venture on. The skeleton from the pre-show stretch reenters upstage and incorporates another style, tap dancing—and makes it look easy!—and the relationship of the music to the sound of the shoes adds an audible layer to the visual. They reach the Cauldron of Truth. Candy is shared. Vamps and mummies hug, smiles all round, a truly wholesome and adorable fairy-tale ending. Mallory, no longer lost, graces us with a solo, becoming gentle and elegant, the polar opposite of her creepy and crawly aesthetic from earlier, symbolic of the peace she’s found within herself.
From those who can’t tie their shoes to those with gray hair, Eastman has successfully created a work that keeps the interest of all ages. When one grows accustomed to seeing dance with heavy, serious, or personal meaning, this lighthearted presentation from Darvin Dances is like taking a deep, intentional breath after many subconscious shallow ones. “Halloween Creepy Crawlies” is the addition to my spooky season I never knew I needed and has evolved into one of Chicago’s Halloween dance traditions.
For more information on Darvin Dances’ “Halloween Creepy Crawlies,” check out the event page by clicking HERE.
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