Photo by Del Medoff

Virtual Healing with RAWdance

By Garth Grimball

The Bay Area is entering the 11th month of quarantine/lockdown/shelter-in-place/life with COVID-19. At the beginning of this week California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the current six weeks of sheltering-in-place was coming to an end and counties can “re-open” to varying degrees. At the end of this week RAWdance premiered “The Healer,” choreographed by co-artistic director Katerina Wong and co-presented by ODC Theater. The performing arts are so far from reopening that the adventures in internet-as-stage continue to evolve.

“The Healer” sets itself apart from other online dance before the performance begins streaming. Ticket holders can receive a care package of items related to Traditional Chinese Medicine, a source of choreographic inspiration. A bamboo fan, peppermint tea, ginger candy, a sachet of lavender, and wishing tree notes invite viewers to experience “The Healer” with all their senses. Holding my cup of tea I logged on to the streaming site. Digital verisimilitude extends to pre-show socializing. Rather than fleeting small talk with fellow attendees as you find your seat, now announce your presence in a chat window and share an emoji or ten. 🙂 My glasses fog as I blow on my tea and the audience turns into a stream of ink blots.

In lieu of the mixed-bill program planned for 10 months ago, “The Healer” is now experienced in a lecture-demonstration format. Each night a different speaker preambles the dance film. On opening night it was acupuncturist Shawna Seth discussing TCM and the creative process. Informative, persuasive, and aspirational, her presentation had the familiar rhythm of TED Talks. Seth ended teaching an acupressure exercise to relieve stress; bringing us back to our physical selves as we came together virtually.

Photo by Del Medoff

“The Healer” opens with a montage of women opening doors, entering spaces, removing shoes, and washing hands. Considering the critical public health pressure and awareness to always be washing one’s hands it’s uncertain whether Wong is commenting on this collective necessity or encouraging a collective cleansing separate from the recommended 20 second lather. The montage settles on the ODC stage where the dancers, Wong, Michaela Cruze, Juliann Witt, and Stacey Yuen, engage with a set by Chad Owens. In the foreground stands a sanctum. A water source and a medicine bowl center the bamboo structure bringing the outside inside. A bamboo row cascades across the background. My familiarity with ODC Theater as performer and audience member increased my desire to melt into the screen and reanimate on the other side. I know the feeling of my feet on the stage, the daze of leaving dreamy stage lighting to unflattering halogen in the green room. I’m grateful to see the theater used and the stage danced on.

The dancers move with power. Each has a solo within the tightly structured quartet. Daniel Berkman’s original score contains intermittent voice over from a Qi Gong instructor. The dancers respond in kind or let her words float away unanswered. The choreography has a very Bay Area sensibility: a combination of ballet and release techniques with a distinct inspiration source and a judicious amount of throwing oneself to the floor. The sensibility can feel like a flavor profile that’s dulled from overuse. Wong excites when the movement vocabulary leans into her inspirations. One inspiration source is Qi, and as Seth informed us, its movement within the body’s channels. The alchemy of contemporary dance and Qi movements shines brightest in Wong’s solo. Her movements are accented by exacting breaths. The other dancers join her tearing across the stage in unison and I feel the energy come off my screen. Or, I want to feel that energy. At one point the dancers fuse. Hands settle and sense eschewing the grabs, holds, and muscling of dance partnering. The four bodies create a visual embodiment of energy channels.

The screen went dark. My tea was cold. I stared at my three wishing tree notes. Is it ok to write the same wish 3 times? Please let it not be another 11 months before these dancers, all dancers, can hear the applause.

Garth Grimball is a writer and dance artist based in Oakland. He is co-director of Wax Poet(s) and hosts the podcast Reference Desk.

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Related posts:

“Still Dancing”: The Dancers of RAWdance on Working on “The Healer” in the Age of Quarantine

One Good Quote: "The Healer" with RAWdance

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