Shawn Harper
With Shrouds in background, Mohawk Man (Juan Carlos Díaz Vélez, center) is manipulated by Puppet Master (Richard Oaxaca).
It makes sense that Madison’s “solid rock” station 94.1 WJJO is a co-presenter (along with Earthling Interactive) of Kanopy Dance’s Devil’s Night: An Apocalyptic Vision in Heavy Metal, which runs through Feb. 17 at Overture’s Promenade Hall.
The hard-driving music for this work, which has been evolving in the company’s repertory in some form since 2000, is from the classically trained Finnish cello metal band Apocalyptica; the show features the band’s own compositions and its arrangements of Metallica songs.
A menacing yet charismatic Puppet Master (played with self-assured aplomb by new company member Richard Oaxaca) reigns supreme in a netherworld inhabited by menacing “shrouds” (four dancers in blaze orange jackets and pants whose heads are covered by black veils), quirky China Dolls (another quartet, this one with creepy stylized makeup and glossy black headcaps) and a Greek chorus of young dancers — first clad in frothy asymmetrical layers of black and white, and later donning sparkly, stretchy straightjackets as things descend further into madness and mayhem. We follow the trajectory of the naive Mohawk Man (Juan Carlos Díaz Vélez), who collides with all of these vivid characters.
The program is a wild ride that alternates between being visually arresting and overwhelming. At times, it feels like the stage is too small to contain all of the action, colors and large cast.
I’ll admit the aesthetic isn’t always aligned with my taste. Lisa Thurrell’s striking choreography set to Apocalyptica’s mournful version of Metallica’s “The Unforgiven” is moving, and had it been presented more simply without flashy costumes and stylized makeup I would be writing a rave review.
During intermission, my friend and I admitted to each other that we had clearly morphed into cranky old ladies because the volume was rattling our internal organs.
Oaxaca has a fascinating resume that includes being named America’s No. 1 Male Cheerleader by the National Cheerleading Association, cruise line performer and circus artist before finding his way to Martha Graham’s technique. He is a welcome addition to the already deep bench of Kanopy dancers, and I look forward to seeing him in future productions.
The dancing is top notch throughout, even though my eyes and ears needed an occasional rest from the cacophony of colors and pounding cellos. The young dancers from Kanopy Company 2 are particularly good. Their solid foundation in Graham technique enables them to trust in their training and take chances on stage and focus on fully inhabiting their roles. Standouts from that group include Maya Finman-Palmer, Catherine Maxwell, Sarah Nathan and Roan Alexander (who confidently tackles a headbanging freakout).
With a scorchingly bright color palette and clever touches (who knew straightjacket sleeves could present so many interesting options?), costume designer David Quinn shows why he has had success designing for dance, television, film and theater.
Most of the chapters of this heavy metal hellscape narrative were choreographed by Thurrell or Robert E. Cleary, the company’s co-artistic directors; but other contributing choreographers are Shannon Cavanaugh Stiemke, Brianne Schenkel, Merritt Yandell and Elyse Snider.
A merch table in the theater adds to the rock vibe.
