Divine Dancing Amidst Sweet Aromas Against an Antiquities Backdrop, with a Message of Hope

It was another magical performance on a summer afternoon at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art on Sunday, August 10.  Dancers John Santos, Stephanie Maxim, Sophia Oddi, and Andrii Strelkivskyi performed stunning choreography by L.A.-based choreographer Laura Gorenstein Miller, first in the Ludington Gallery amidst ancient and modern sculpture, and then on the front steps, amidst the sweet and spicy aromas from the museum’s Scent Studio, off of stage right.

Museum Education Director Patsy Hicks tied three seemingly disparate artistic explorations into a truly fascinating experience. She brilliantly combined two of the Museum’s current exhibits: Perfumes of
Antiquity, part of the Museum’s permanent collection, and By Achilles’ Tomb, artist Elliott Hundley’s modern interpretation of some of the museum’s Antiquities Collection, with two dance performances by one of the most unique and fascinating contemporary choreographers in the U.S. today: Laura Gorenstein Miller. 

The Antiquities exhibit that previously populated the entrance hall of the museum has been partially replaced with the current exhibit By Achilles’ Tomb, a modern interpretation of some of the Greek tragedies. The museum’s website explains, “By Achilles’ Tomb juxtaposes the Museum’s renowned collection of antique sculpture and glassware with Hundley’s sculptures, paintings, and newly made collages.” The event website describes Hundley’s modern interpretation of antiquities, in sculpture that uses every-day materials, as “playful.” To this viewer, his sculpture-collages appear playful until one reads their descriptions, which describe some rather ghastly scenes from Homer’s Iliad and the tragedies of Euripides. Hundley has chosen to represent these scenes of death through his playful-looking sculptures, but, look beneath the surface, and they are not light hearted. Not in the least. For example, “Tearing Flesh from Bone” depicts the “horrific climax of Euripides’ The Bacchae, in which frenzied female followers of Baccus pull King Pentheus from a tree and dismember him.” The description goes on to explain the symbolic significance of each material in the sculpture-collage as it relates to Pentheus’ death.

Ok, well … art is often meant to disturb the viewer, not always to please. Think of Picasso’s Guernica, meant as a powerful symbol of protest against the horrors of war. Similarly, one can look at Hundley’s modern sculptures, depicting ancient scenes of death and dismemberment, and interpret them as protests against the tragedies and horrors that are happening now, in our modern world. 

As the event description posits, “… ancient culture can be remade and repurposed today by anyone, from anywhere …”  Protest demands action, from which arises the hope for redemption. 

And then came the silent parade of the dancers, like living, breathing Greek sculptures, gliding down the stairs and slowly dancing their way around the gallery and out to the front steps. Their sensual movements were intended to represent the legend of the Phoenix, the immortal bird who is reborn from its own ashes. Hicks explained, “Although not specifically referenced in Hundley’s work, the myth of the Phoenix resonates across cultures and centuries in a story of regeneration and renewal, bringing life and hope, that is both timely and timeless.”

The Phoenix appears in legends from ancient Greece and Egypt; it is described by Jewish sages in the Talmud; in early Christianity, it was taken as a symbol of the Resurrection. The Talmud explains why the Phoenix is immortal: Because it was the only animal who did not taste the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge when Eve picked the forbidden fruit and shared it with the animals. Thus “death was not placed upon it. After 1,000 years it renews, and goes into its youth.” 

When I asked Hicks how she sought out choreographer Laura Gorenstein Miller for this art-inspired dance performance, she explained, “We sought out Laura because, having worked with her in the past, we knew she was gifted in combining contemporary elements, story, and sensibilities with those of classical antiquity.” 

“The first piece … is centered around the theme of the Phoenix rising from the ashes. We lost our house in the Pacific Palisades fire, and this theme, inspired by the Elliottt Hundley exhibit, allowed me to focus on resilience,” said Gorenstein Miller.

And therein lies the bridge from Hundley’s sculptures to modern tragedies to the hope for redemption. 

Gorenstein Miller’s dancers are powerful, elegant, and focused. Although they danced so close to the audience that I could hear their breath, they remained immersed in their world, never once breaking the fourth wall.

Some of the dancers’ movements portrayed powerful wings flapping, while at other moments, they seemed to portray small, rapid fluttering of wings. At other times, they seemed to be reaching for the sky or gathering ashes on the ground. As the dancers carried the audience through their journey, the sweet-and-spicy aromas of the ancient perfumes, still on display in the ‘wings’ off stage right, accompanied their movements.

The haunting, dramatic music for the Phoenix choreography (no official title yet) was composed by the Emmy-nominated, award-winning David Majzlin for Gorenstein Miller’s work “Beautiful Monsters,” which premiered at UCLA’s Royce Hall in 2010. 

The piece ended with the dancers carrying each other off stage. In a momentary sojourn in the realm of mortals, the dancers dried off (there were no curtains to conceal them) and then returned for a second piece. 

The music for the second piece, “Long Live I” by Angela McCluskey, continued the exploration of death and redemption, as expressed in the refrain: “Will someone hug me if I die? But if I die, Long live I … Mama would you miss me? Would you hover and caress me? Would you hang me from the Christmas tree?”  Quite a contrast to the Majzlin music of the previous piece, but fascinating … so I had to dig deeper into the meaning. 

The official biography website of Angela McCluskey, from Glasgow, Scotland explains that this song was composed in the immediate aftermath of the bombing of the World Trade Centers in Manhattan, “in Tribeca, sung towards the space where only three weeks before the Trade Centers had stood, sung for the ghosts and the dust.” I am from New York, and was there visiting family just a few days before the attacks. This message is so poignant for me as to borderline make me nauseous. 

The choreography expresses hope, juxtaposed with the grim lyrics of this blues song.

Gorenstein Miller explained “Long Live I,” “has been a duet in different iterations of genders. I adopted it as a quartet for this show at Santa Barbara Museum of Art to demonstrate how our community and loving relationships give us hope and support during challenging times.” Between their gravity-defying lifts, the loving embraces portrayed by the dancers, at times men partnering with women, and at times the men partnering with each other, and women with each other, expressed the universality of love. 

Gorenstein Miller’s work is absolutely fascinating. In addition to choreographing exquisitely for “real” dancers, she has choreographed for numerous animated films, including Puss in Boots, Madagascar 3, The Addams Family, and is currently choreographing the new Smurfs animated film, featuring Rihanna as Smurfette. She explained that it is interesting choreographing for Smurfs because their arms are so short for their bodies, that they can never raise their arms over their heads like real people. The most they can manage is a 90-degree angle, so she had to factor that limitation into her choreography. In a short reel with actors from Nickelodeon, Gorenstein Miller explains how she choreographs for animation. “A choreographer composes the dance steps that make up the scene. The production team shares with me the story reel. From there, I work with dancers to choreograph the scene. Then, they come and tape the dancers, and that video is used as reference for the animators.” Honestly, I have never been interested in Smurfs, but now I definitely want to see it for Laura Gorenstein Miller’s choreography in this film, directed by her husband Chris Miller.

In conclusion: WOW. Congratulations to SBMA Education Director Patsy Hicks for orchestrating this fascinating, thought-provoking combination of sculpture and dance, with a beautifully scented undertow. And, again, tremendous thanks to Starr Siegele for her generous funding of dance at the Museum. This was a free performance open to all! I eagerly await the next art-dance collaboration that SBMA will produce!