Holiday entertainment typically aims to lift spirits and evoke joy. It rarely addresses a downside. In South Chicago Dance Theatre’s “Lamentations for Peace,” it’s best to leave behind any preconceived ideas of Christmas dance concerts. Although this story is not a downer, it realizes that holidays are not always bright for everyone. Choreographer Kia Smith delves into the negative effect that adult actions can have on young children and also reflects on how community can lift one up in dark times.
Presented at The Dance Center of Columbia College this past weekend, “Lamentations for Peace” runs the gamut of emotions. It delights and digs deep into some of the more serious and difficult aspects of holidays with equal measure. Thankfully, good will prevails in this unique and dynamic perspective of the season.
To tell her story in its premiere, Smith has assembled a top tier corps of dancers, supported by the silky smooth a capella singing harmonies of the Bourné Family and a delightful bunch of young dancers from the Hyde Park School of Dance. The work is complex and challenging, and the athletic movement vocabulary falls second to energy and emotion. This is dance not only to watch, but to feel and experience.
Set in a nonspecific era with muted-color costumes hinting at vintage 1940s with suspenders and A-line dresses, a wonder-filled child (beautifully danced by the promising Peter Westergaard) sets the dance in motion. Smith then introduces us to his young parents at Christmas time, clearly in a struggling relationship. Narrative unveils through a series of vignettes in two acts set to familiar Christmas music (both religious and non-religious) that follow the child, then the troubled adult he becomes, suffering the consequences of his parents’ bickering.
As the parents, Jack Halbert and Mya Bryant possess a loving, chemistry-versus-tension relationship. Through waving arms, undulating torsos and sweeping lifts, they push and pull with bliss yet with deep sadness, wishing things were otherwise. Bryant dances with such longing and ease but tightens in reaction to her partner’s gentle caresses and rough arm grasps. The pair’s movement is thick, as if the air between them has become heavy.
There are all smiles when they throw a holiday party. The couple strains their way through a jazzy jitterbug bash, swinging and shimmying with the full ensemble. Here, Smith thrives in her interpretation of jazz music. Through quick shifts and detailed nuance, partygoers have a blast, leaping, sliding and kicking with slick rhythms and complex precision, then sweeping into balletic ballroom partnering. The spunk of corps dancer Lauryn Crowell and the long lines of Trey Alexander heighten the level of fun and hope at this bash.
Father and son share a poignant moment in a duet moment between Halbert and Westergaard, tapping toes and swiveling hips akin to a scene from a ’40s movie musical. When the party ends, the rift between parents seems to have grown insurmountable (although it’s not clear why), and with the innocent Westergaard as witness, it’s heartbreaking when, to the tune of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” the father figure leaves the family on Christmas Eve.
Brodie Wolf, as the boy now grown up, dances a tense, devastating struggle, unable to see the holidays as a time to rejoice. As Nat King Cole croons in the well-known recording of “O Holy Night,” Wolf grovels and shakes, struggling in stark contrast to the music. Frantic and quivery, Wolf leads with his arms, pressing hands into his back, pushing himself into the next move. Stiff, lost and searching, he arches backwards and billows like a kite surfer’s giant sail set adrift.
In contrast to the intimacy of Wolf’s struggle, the ensemble sections explode with energy. A powerhouse group of versatile dancers (Alexander, Crowell, Chloe Chandler, Kelly Anderson, Maya Finman-Palmer, Marissa Thomas, Maddie LaNasky, Ben Moleta, Keeley Clark, Kelsi L. Fears and Tonei Silver) slither in a conga line and swagger and pulse around a gambling table. They chug along like a slick Christmas train around a tree and rock back and forth like tolling bells.
Dressed in golden white, angel figures appear throughout the piece, sometimes moving stiffly like the hands of a clock, other times sweeping into a series of overhead lifts, flying each other across the stage. These angels could be the community, your friend, or your neighbor. They are those who help others when times are rough. With long body lines and detailed extremities, the group falls and lifts effortlessly, sometimes like a flurry of quirky snowflakes swirling on a mildly windy day.
An angel, in the poignant and strong form of Anderson, meshes with Wolf in a compelling duet, calmly steering him back toward the Christmas wonder of childhood. In a bright, rousing “Joy to the World” finale, the full ensemble of dancers-as-angels ebb and swell, bouncing as if laughing and reaching as if embracing something larger than life.
The nine Bourné family singers also appear in both halves of the program, and give the second half a particularly human dimension. Reflecting the theme and story, their “Silent Night” finds unusual harmonies, moves away from the traditional melody, then returns on the perfect note. Filling the theater with a mighty “Hallelujah Chorus,” they seemed an ensemble triple their size.
Glitches in narrative do arise from time to time. The relationship between the boy and his adult self needs to be more clearly established from the start, otherwise the gut-wrenching solo by Wolf in the first act loses impact. Smith tackles something special here. In the end, “Lamentations for Peace” succeeds in being about the power of others to impact and shape us. It is uplifting to see angels on earth who help and support each other and bring joy to the audience and to the world.
South Chicago Dance Theatre presents “Lamentations for Peace” on Dec. 6 & 7 at The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, 1306 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60605. For more information, check out the event page by clicking HERE.
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