FERNANDO SANDOVAL
I was feeling like Halloween was a bust. Snow and cold kept many trick-or-treaters inside, depriving me of seeing fun costumes. And then someone made off with my motion-activated skeleton bowl and all the candy in it. But things turned around for me at Lathrop Hall’s Margaret H’Doubler Performance Space for the opening of UW- Madison Dance Department’s associate professor Peggy Choy’s FLIGHT torn like a rose. I felt I was peeking into a magical realm inhabited by mythical creatures. The stunning costumes made up for those I missed earlier in the evening.
Choy was inspired by Conference of the Birds, written in the 12th century by Sufi poet Farid ud-Din Attar and considered a masterpiece of Persian literature. In the lengthy poem (4,500 lines), rich with parables, the birds of the world gather together in search of the Rose of Love. Their journey is fraught with peril, and only a few survive. Ultimately they learn that the love, guidance and divinity they sought on their arduous quest was already within them.
This complex undertaking, which was aptly described in the program notes as a “dance-theater-saga with video collage and music” involved many collaborators for Choy: a director (Sonoko Kawahara), a composer (Graham Haynes), a librettist (Ruth Margraff), a singer (Haleh Abghari), two lighting designers (Reza Behjat and Claude Heintz), two video artists (Patrick Lovejoy and Andrew Jordan, who also designed the glorious costumes) and a cast of six gifted performers. The production premiered in New York in in 2017 and recently had a second run there.
Several of the birds are chastised for their delusions by a ranting old man (Lacouir Yancey, who also performs as Parrot Brother) whose frustration causes him to self immolate. Out of his ashes, a phoenix arises (Choy, resplendent in dazzling golden wings) and brings the old man’s spirit of love and beauty back to the world. Two parrots (Ze Motion and Yancey) escape their metaphorical cages, their plumage bright and their movements sublime. The two smoothly reveal feats of strength and balance that took my breath away. A hawk (feisty Yuriko Miyake) swoops down in attack mode and battles with the others. Autumn Harms performs a lovely and melancholy solo as the heron. Nightingale (Xavier Townsend) arrives as the other birds continue to quarrel, fighting the otherness represented by each species of bird. Townsend performs with an exuberance and passion that is as bright as his pink costume.
Choy’s choreography reveals the characters’ hardships and travails as well as their triumphs, combining elements of many dance and martial arts forms. All of the performers were adept at mimicking birds’ distinct motions, twitchy, fluttering, swooping, preening, pecking and soaring. However, it was Townsend’s arms that most seemed to magically morph into wings (as beautifully as any ballerina that I have seen perform in Swan Lake or as the Dying Swan). The performers all had assistance in their avian portrayals from costume designer Jordan’s remarkable creations.
When the birds reach the end of their journey at a mountain’s summit after Nightingale has sacrificed himself, they sit with their winged backs to us. It is truly a moment of peace and beauty.
I am typically a “less is more” kind of audience member, so I was sometimes overwhelmed by all of the elements in this production, but, like the birds, I think I had to go through the entire journey to get to that place of stillness and self reflection. That resolution resonated more because of all the bustling, busy and provocative theatrical components.
Choy’s thoughtful exploration of Attar’s allegorical poem has sparked my curiosity to learn more about it. There is no shortage of books to choose from, but two seem like a particularly good. A 2017 translation by Sholedh Wolpe includes this wise quote in the introduction, “We are the birds in the story. All of us have our own ideas and ideals, our own fears and anxieties, as we hold on to our own version of the truth. Like the birds of this story, we may take flight together, but the journey itself will be different for each of us.” Peter Sis, a Caldecott Honor-winning artist, illustrated a book for adults, which NPR described as a “lavishly illustrated retelling” of the poem.
Remaining performances are at 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 1 and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2 at the Lathrop Hall’s Margaret H’Doubler Performance Space.
