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Julie Brette Adams answers life’s questions in dance that she has no words to express.
She continues that conversation with “One Woman Dancing,” a solo performance of a handful of dances she created.
Although she has danced and choreographed performances with groups, this is her fourth solo concert in her 25-year professional dancing career.
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If you go WHAT: “One Woman Dancing,” a solo contemporary dance concert by Julie Brette Adams WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday, May 11, and Saturday, May 12; 2 p.m. May 13 WHERE: Santa Fe Playhouse, 142 E. De Vargas St., Santa Fe HOW MUCH: $20 general admission, $15 seniors and students. Reservations recommended. Call 505-986-1801. Visit www.onewomandancing.com for more information and videos |
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“I deeply enjoy the artistic freedom of creating a one-woman show,” she said. “If a theme or music inspires me, I am free to create without consulting or collaborating.”
It’s a painstaking process that she describes as silent poetry.
“Poetry lights up the mind and the emotions, in ways day-to-day language may not. Words are carefully chosen for their rhythm and effect,” she said. “For me that’s done using my body. Each movement, each gesture is carefully constructed with the goal of moving the audience.”
Although some repertoire pieces have been revived for the show, a new piece, “Her Last Patrol: A Lonely Night of a GI Jill in Afghanistan,” is a departure from her previous explorations.
“It’s political commentary on war, and I usually don’t do that,” she said, adding that she often feels she is so far removed from the war where young people are fighting and dying that it’s as if she is in a bubble.
That distance robs people of the effort required to process what war does to humanity: “It’s shocking, but we all just go on with our lives. I wanted to reflect more about what it means to be in the shoes of soldier.”
It’s set to the explosion of mortars and the silent pauses between gunfire: “It’s pedestrian in the sense that there are very few dance movements, but it’s edgy.”
The piece comes before her dancing tribute to J.S. Bach: “It’s challenging, but I really like to dance to Bach. It moves and inspires me,” she said.
She has collaborated with guest percussionist Jefferson Voorhees of Albuquerque for the reprised “Some Assembly Required.”
“It’s that dueling energy of male and female power. It’s playful, funny and a little sexy,” she said.
Even though the choreography is familiar, it’s new again: “I’m a different person now than I was 10 years ago. I remember when relationship turmoil and personal angst was my greatest truth. My life is calmer and more balanced now. I can bring deeper meaning to my dance.”
