Shen Wei Dance Arts (#2)

This is the third section of the Re- dance.

Shen Wei’s Re-(Part III) opens powerfully, as an army of dancers dressed in green marches forwards and backwards with a swinging gait. With no set, and no wings to cover the side lights, this cohesive, unified group emerges as the central focus. Duets break from the marching lines to push into and against each other, teetering at the edge of balance. The dancers press farther—fighting? supporting?—until collapse is inevitable. Both dancers are needed to create and sustain these human bridges, and still they fall—a rather pessimistic image to begin the newest section of Shen Wei’s acclaimed Re-series. Subtitled “The New Silk Road,” Re-(Part III) is inspired by Mr. Shen’s travels between Beijing, China, and New York City—a vision of Eastern and Western culture.

With that perspective in mind, I find it difficult not to attribute characteristics and values associated with each culture to the two main sections of this work. In the opening of the dance, I see both the dependence on others and the mandated unity associated with Chinese culture. As Re-(Part III) continues, the armies of dancers return, dividing into two groups marching in opposition, passing through and around each other. The dancer in the middle of each group begins to stray from the measured rhythm, scrambling, rejecting the lock step of the rest of the pod. All the while, however, the dancer remains with the group, switching directions in time with the rest. The music becomes more repetitive, even threatening, as the marchers begin to spin, fold into each other and apart, like the motion of the sea, the tide—inevitably turning, engulfing. A desperate duet begins, trapped in the midst of a group at the back of the stage. Maintaining the back and forth motion of the surrounding dancers, a man catches and lifts a woman, swinging her through the group. They seem to be searching for a way out, but cannot break free of the motion, the influence of the others. These dancers are breaking out of the mold, yet staying just inside the lines.

What is Mr. Shen suggesting here? Is this a cynical view of the collective mentality of China, the one-for-all focus of Communist culture/politics? What does it mean that the non-conforming dancers always fit themselves back into the unified group, even as others take their place in resisting? What of the collapsing bridges at the beginning? Is this way of life confining, unsustainable? Unreliable and yet unyieldingly inevitable?

After a slow, reaching, searching solo—a transitional moment—the company returns, this time in short shorts, tank tops, and long socks. To loud music with an overwhelming pulse, the almost punk-ish dancers (Americans, this time?) gyrate, hop, spin, and collapse. Each dancer is in his or her own space, own world. Halfway through, I notice that all their eyes are closed, which adds an intriguing layer of blindness to their individuality. Blind to each other, to others’ movements and condition, each dancer is gradually consumed in a cycle of spinning and collapsing. Then, however, in the most hopeful note of the entire dance, the dancers reach out for each other, find partners and then larger groups. Still sightless, the dancers grope their way into odd, creative balances and supports, until finally, the whole group is connected. At the end, even the die-hard individuals have created cohesion—if non-traditional—among the group.