Maureen Janson Heintz
Choreographer Jin-Wen Yu celebrates 20 years on the faculty at UW-Madison with Page 20, which runs through Nov. 19 at Lathrop Hall’s Margaret H’Doubler Performance Space. The concert provides snapshots of his choreography from the past, present and the future (a preview of a new work that will officially premiere in 2019). It is also your last chance to witness his artistry as a solo performer; Yu will continue to dance, but the program notes indicate he will no longer perform his solo works.
Yu’s newest solo, “Come to Dance,” reveals all that is intriguing about him as a performer and dance maker. His elegant grace and intensity is paired with impressive discipline and strength. Yu interacts with a jacket that comes flying down from above on a wire. He poignantly wraps a sleeve around himself, easing in and out of it. With a subtle nod to martial arts, Yu shows that he is a master of changing dynamics; one minute he moves smoothly, then he bursts into a jump, dropping to the floor.
Company members Lauren John and Yun-Chen Liu perform “1-2-1,” another premiere, which was a swirling, sliding dance of intimacy punctuated by unexpected hand gestures.
Several UW students have excellent moments in a demanding work-in-progress, “Coalesce.” Caroline Criste and Aliya Mayers combine solid technique with eye-catching stage presence.
“Drifting,” a 1997 piece that won regional and national words at the American College Dance Association Conference, was the first piece Yu set at UW-Madison. It looks a little dated, but is a pleasant reminder of where Yu was heading.
The entire second half is the premiere of “Paging,” which is part of Page, the project that will premiere in 2019. Its six sections total almost an hour of dance. Often the dancers busy themselves with sheets of white paper — flinging it into the air, biting it between their teeth, passing it to each other or placing it on their bodies. It turns out that paper is a graceful but unpredictable partner. In “Letters of a Traveler,” when Collette Stewart rips and crumples some sheets, it almost feels like a betrayal. “Traveling Page,” danced by Janelle Bentley, Liu and Stewart is quintessential Yu; the dancers glide over each other like silk, playing with shifts in balance and weight. Then suddenly they cross the stage, hopping on one leg while flapping their arms like cranes about to take flight. In “Big Page” we get to see five accomplished and strong male dancers, which is such a treat, because there is a scarcity of male dancers in Madison. They ingeniously used a folding table as a platform, vault, wall and bridge.
Throughout the evening, lighting designer Claude Heintz and media designer TingYi Lin provide important contributions to the dance works. And even though Yu is ending his solo career, the whole evening generates excitement and curiosity about what Yu will come up with next.
