Big Dance Theatre

By Rachael Wilkinson
February 24, 2013     

     To blend one art form with another is incredibly difficult, to do it well is nearly impossible, yet the dancers of Big Dance Theatre are critically acclaimed for accomplishing just that. Their unique style of storytelling blends dance, theater and visual effects to create performance art all their own.
 
     Big Dance Theatre (BDT) was founded in 1991 by Paul Lazar, Annie-B Parson, and Molly Hickok, as the three left Irondale theater company. The trio had been collaborating since 1983, and left to create a company to develop their own work. Lazar's theatre background and Parson's training as a choreographer led to the fascinating blend of dance and theatre that BDT is famous for. 

   
 That should not fool the casual observer into thinking that these are not dancers. Or perhaps, not modern dancers - they tell stories right? While Lazar may enjoy narrative story telling, he says he enjoys a vague plots that allow performers to discover their own narrative. Parson is decidedly anti-narrative and enjoys the fluidity of abstract work. BDT may create plays with acting and music, but at the very heart of their performance art is dance. Parson considers it integral to the success of a performance,

Dance is the sacred object. It is pure expression. It tells you more about who the performer is than acting or singing can. There is no hiding in a great dance-performer. Without dance on stage you lack kinesthetic audience response. It is deadly dull for me on both a physical and emotional level to see a piece without dancing of any kind. Because dance comes from our bodies it is central to who we are. I find it non-realistic, or unreal, to have a piece of theater that doesn’t include dance.

  

     BDT is more than its three core members, has an ensemble cast that shifts as the group tackles new productions. The strength of the ensemble members is also an integral part of BDT's success. Claudia La Rocco, in a review of their piece, Comme Toujours Here I Stand, said "This is a true, and very fine, ensemble. They are... doing the best sort of honest work." Parson describes the audition process, as well as the creation process: 

We don’t cast, we gather. We gather together people we find interesting. We don’t audition because there’s nothing to audition… I look for expressive people I find fascinating to watch. We make the piece around them.

     The actual process of creating their pieces is often slow and laborious. An interview with BOMB Magazine references a process that was very improvisational and almost a year long. The process for their production The Other Here included finding a coach to help teach the ensemble about Okinawan folk dancing. Hickok and Lazar led the charge to help the ensemble master a craft they knew very little about.

     

     At that, especially for Lazar and Parson, is best approach to performance and dance. Both believe that there is a value in acknowledging one's own ignorance, like a tourist in a foreign culture. BDT performs subjects unfamiliar to both themselves and their audience in an attempt to both grow and appreciate something new. 

Ich, Kubergeist

Photo by Paula Court, The Measure

Performed for Halloween of 2012, this agricultural vengeance play exemplifies BDT's commitment to cultural tourism, especially for their audience. The play's dialogue is entirely in a language made up by the playwright, Sibyl Kempson. The story revolves around a small group of people living on an island - who value pumpkins more than anything.

The Other Here

 

BDT's 2007 work, The Other Here, combines a shocking number of culture references and appropriations. Okinawan '70s pop music provides the soundtrack to Japanese stories from the '20s while the dancers perform Okinawan folk dances. The piece has been compared to doing a Tennessee Williams play to Hawaiian music and Parson has admitted that the mixture originally stemmed from her own ignorance on Okinawan culture.

List of Complete Works

For Further Browsing
Big Dance Theater website
Big Dance Theater on Jacob's Pillow Interactive

--

Clements, Alexis. "Smashing Pumpkins with Big Dance Theater." The Measure. The L Magazine, 25 Oct. 2012. 
     Web. 24 Feb. 2013.

Haskell, John. "Big Dance Theater." BOMB Magazine, Sept. 2007. Web. 24 Feb. 2013.

Rocco, Claudia La. "Time Goes By So Slowly for Those Who Wait." The New York Times.  

      The New York Times, 18 May 2012. Web. 24 Feb. 2013.