Victor Quijada got the nickname "Rubberband" when
he was breakdancing as a kid on the streets of Los Angeles. Years later (2002), he used that
nickname as a moniker for his dance troupe - RUBBERBANDance Group. Between
those dates, he danced with Twyla Tharp, Eliot Feld, and Ballet Tech; and as a
soloist with the prestigious Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal.
This week he brings his RUBBERBANDance Group to Philadelphia with a new dance theater work
"Gravity of Center," which he choreographed.
In the 75-minute ballet, Quijada tackles themes of survival instinct in a
dilapidating global economy. It has also been adapted for the screen.
Tightening and transforming the piece
It’s been a busy January for Quijada and his troupe. They’ve just returned
from a European tour in Germany,
Belgium, Belarus and last week previewed excerpts of
"Gravity of Center" at the Ice Storm showcase at APAP in New York.
"Coming back from the European tour, this piece feels really
extraordinary," Quijada said, speaking over the weekend by phone from Montreal, where RBDG is
based. "We premiered the piece last year in Montreal, but when you take a show on the
road, digging into it, the piece transforms. I’m tightening, condensing. We
also did some shows at APAP -- we did about 30 minutes -- in New York and the group seems very
strong."
The impetus for "Gravity of Center" grew out of a response to the
financial crisis of 2008. "The inspiration came when the financial crisis
exploded. I started to think about the whole idea of scarcity; of having and
not having; how do we act or react in this situation. How we follow -- our
behavior as animals, herd mentality, pack mentality, the mob mentality of the
stock market. The hierarchy of the alpha male and omega male, for instance, a
study on behaviors and archetypes," Quijada explained.
"The piece became about the need of a group and the need to be a fulfilled
individual: the conflicts of one person within a group. The audience could
follow this as a narrative line, but not have to follow it as a story
ballet," he said.
The choreographer collaborated with composer Jasper Gahunia, a classically
trained musician who has also worked as a premiere DJ on the international
hip-hop circuit, on the score. What they agreed on as they worked was that the
score would be different -- not just a blend of classical styles and hip-hop
beats. Their creative process proved intuitive. "We started by sampling a
cello note, or a harpsichord line, just these instrumental ideas. From that we
built a composition."
Quijada uses a variety of dance and musical styles: he developed and
synthesized hip-hop acrobatics, utilizes a capoeira (martial arts) lexicon in
conjunction with contemporary classical dance. "Gravity of Center" also
taps into primal, sensorial movement.
The artistic director said that he knew his style was becoming theatrically
popular, but he didn’t anticipate that it would be as influential as it has
become in contemporary ballet.
"I knew that what was happening in the clubs that I grew up in was so
exciting and risky, the spatial structures, anti gravitational structures -
what the body can do - was untapped in concert dance. I didn’t expect hip-hop,
as a category of dance, B-boying funk style, urban dance umbrella - I didn’t
expect how big it would become. I’ve tried to build a solid bridge between
these styles and contemporary ballet."
RUBBERBANDance Group performs Center of Gravity from
January 19 - 21, 2012 at the Zellerbach Theatre, Annenberg Center,
Philadelphia, PA. For more information, visit the Annenberg Center website.
EDGE
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