Melissa Mancini
Natasha Carlitz Dance Ensemble’s Aqua Terra welcomed audiences into a theater alive with the calming sounds of waves, wind, and chirping birds. Projected onto the stage were slow moving illustrations of various nature scenes: trees, fields of wheat, waterfalls, beaches. The sense of world building was immediate so the transition from outside ODC Theater into the performance space felt like a gentle invitation into the creativity of the performers. The sonic and visual designs piqued my interest before the dancing started.
Aqua Terra began as six dancers in matching clean and classic attire entered the stage and formed a small pod facing upstage towards the projection. A video faded in of dancers on a beach mirroring the formation of those we are witnessing live. The video was paired with soft classic music and low lighting. We watched the dancers on film move in a slow flowy fashion as if they are the waves they are dancing in front of. The live dancers joined in, bringing the fluid movements of the beach from the screen to the stage.
As a fellow dancer, I was taken by the familiar movements paired with the nature-inspired motif of the piece. The choreography moved in variations of reaching, expanding, contracting, ebbing, flowing, rippling, springing, slicing, pressing, lifting, wrapping, waving, swooping, separating, fusing, progressing, igniting. As these words rushed to my mind while watching the performance, I reflected on how these phrases could also be connected to ways of describing movements we encounter in nature. The reaching of roots through the dirt as they grow. The expanding of flower petals in bloom in the Spring. The ebbing and flowing of ocean waves as they float onto the sand. The falling and crashing sounds and splashes of a waterfall. The rippling of a river flowing smoothly over boulders and rocks. The slicing cold of an icy winter wind. The wrapping of vines around a tall tree trunk. The swooping of a bird diving for a fish in the water. The igniting spark of a fire.
Aqua Terra made use of several different mediums to express occurrences you might be familiar with in nature. A wave of the arm combined with soft ambient music, silver shiny pants, and a cool blue light to portray an ocean wave. A flurry of violins paired with harsh shadows, a long grey knit top, and quick jabbing movements to portray a storm. Several dancers entered and exited the stage throughout the piece, creating solos, duos, trios, large groups, small groups, moments of unison, moments of everyone moving at their own pace. As the different sections of the piece progressed and we experience different costumes and props, each time a dancer left the stage I started to wonder in what condition they would return? What color costume will they change into next? What prop will we be introduced to and how will they use it? What element of nature will pick up where the last left off?
As the performance ended I reflected on the contrast between the various manifestations of nature I had just experienced, and the bustling concrete city I was walking back into. It is nice to be reminded every once in a while that there is a natural world beyond the city I am so used to. But, as dramatically different as they might appear to be, both are ever changing and pulsing with life in their own ways.
Melissa Mancini moved to the Bay Area in 2012 for college at USF where she majored in Performing Arts & Social Justice (Dance Concentration) and minored in Fine Arts. She has been a member of several Bay Area dance communities ever since, including being a regular patron of ODC Theater.
“Aqua Terra” Dances In Nature was originally published in ODC.dance.stories on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.