DECEMBER 5, 2011
BY BILL O’DRISCOLL

One drawback to covering dance as a weekly paper is that most dance troupes stage shows for one weekend only. And just as with rock concerts, CP doesn’t run print reviews of shows readers won’t have another chance to see.

So with exceptions, including Attack Theatre, that stage multi-week runs, we cover dance with previews only, and hopefully a blog post.

That troubles me when there’s a show as good as this one, the latest from Staycee Pearl’s young company.

The show’s a tribute to and evocation of the work of the late Octavia Butler, a noted science-fiction author and one of the few African-Americans or women to make a mark on the genre. (See Steve Sucato’s preview for CP at http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A103627.)

To evoke science fiction in dance would seem an enterprise fraught with risks – not least that of literalness. (The accompanying image, by the way, is a promo image, not something from the show.) But at the performance I saw Saturday, Pearl and her collaborators, including a company of eight dancers, avoided those pitfalls and then some.

For those unfamilar with Butler (as I am), the production set the tone smartly with a series of audio clips of interviews with her interspersed throughout the evening. These were brief and to the point: The first established Butler’s penchant for depicting strong female characters – a fitting introduction to the five-dancer group piece that began the show.

Like most of the rest of the hour-long performance, this sequence was set to a sountrack designed by Herman Pearl (Staycee Pearl’s husband). It included some live instrumentation and brief bits of an old Hendrix track, but mostly had an electronic feel, chirps and squeals setting a heady but quirkily rhythmic atmosphere.

The second piece was a marvelous solo by Jasmine Hearn, full of wary, sinous motion. Good place too to note Suz Pisano’s fabulous costume design: Hearn’s outfit was especially striking, with its bare midriff and poufy mauve train accenting her motions.

Later sequences were likewise exciting – all but a few featuring fresh, inspired movement giving passionate life to everything from Butler’s take on vampires to a piece on sexuality set to a particularly crazy beat. The dancers, also including Gwen Hunter Ritchie (formerly of LABCO), were excellent, with fine lighting design by Bob Steineck.

SPdp, which seems to have retooled significantly, with mostly new dancers, since its previous show, and Octavia is a great step in the right direction.

Keep an eye out for this work by the Kelly-Strayhorn’s resident dance troupe in case it surfaces again.

This illustration was inspired by the character Anyanwu, from Octavia Butler’s novel, Wild Seed. Anyanwu is a shape shifter immortal who has a special ability to heal herself and others. In her ‘neutral’ state, she is described just as one would describe the lovely Jasmine Hearn(above) who portrays Anyanwu in our performance of OCTAVIA premiering December 2 + 3 at the Kelly-Strayhorn. More to come!

EXTRACTION curated by Jill Larson

LILITH, August 2011

Acrylic, Ink, Pencil

Inspired by the imagery of Octavia Butler and her Xenogenesis trilogy, I interpret the moment of earths final demise after the final and fatal world war. LILITH depicts the extra terrestrial Oankali arriving to extract surviving humans from the earth to 'share' genes and produce a new mixed species.

Kerra Alexander in OCTAVIA: The Pattern

Thanks to all who made it happen and who came out to check us out!

Renee in circle POP: Probable Ebb

Join us for Interim ONE: b sides.

A casual and fun evening of dynamic re-visioned, re-worked, newly created and in-progress dance works.

August 12th | 11 am + 8 pm | pay-what-you-can. ♥

Staycee Pearl Repertory Workshop – CANCELED!

I am so sorry to have to cancel this workshop. Look out for more information about another workshop this Summer. Thank you. staycee

Presented by Kelly Strayhorn Theater

Monday, May 2, 2011 – Thursday, May 12, 2011 | 5PM-7PM

Choreographer Staycee Pearl offers a ten-day repertory workshop for ten dancers ages 16 and up. Select dancers have the opportunity to perform at the third annual newMoves Contemporary Dance Festival presented by the Kelly Strayhorn Theater, May 13-15.

Workshops begin Monday, May 2, 2011 through Thursday, May 12, 2011 from 5PM to 7PM.  Dancers will explore how the aesthetic of Afrofuturism is expressed through contemporary movement. Students will work with company members of the Staycee Pearl dance project who recently premiered their latest work, “circle POP”, at KST.

About Staycee Pearl
As a life-long dance-maker and visual artist, Staycee is committed to the creation and exhibition of dance centered multi-media works responding to a variety of human experiences.  Staycee received her early training at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA, the Dance Theatre of Harlem and Alvin Ailey American Dance Center of New York City respectively. She has performed with Several Dancers Core and Intown Ballet of Atlanta Georgia. As the artistic director of Pittsburgh’s Xpressions Contemporary Dance Company, Staycee was fortunate to work with renowned choreographers Rennie Harris and Robert Battle. Today, Staycee continues to be an active artist and choreographers with PearlArts: movement and sound and Staycee pearl dance project, a resident company of the Kelly Strayhorn Theater.

$95.00 per student