WHAT WHAT?! Wen Wei Wang

Check out the feathers on that dude.

I do not think I fully understood how much I love watching men dance until I saw a nearly all-male cast dance brilliantly for one hour straight. There is a sense of power and sheer force men exude when they dance that contrasts quite sharply with the power that women portray on stage. I find that women maintain a sort of vulnerability even when performing strong, sharp movements. Perhaps my perception of women dancing is tainted by traditional gender roles in our society, where women are thought to be soft and emotional while men are thought to be hard and non-plussed. Perhaps, I am swayed by a personal bias where I feel quite vulnerable when I dance, mostly due to a complete and utter lack of experience performing as an adult. Nevertheless, I felt a different energy when the four men entered the stage to begin Wen Wei's piece, aptly titled "Cock-pit".

The dance is somewhat autobiographical in the sense that it abstracts the camaraderie and awakening sexuality of the boys Wen Wei attended professional dance school with in China. A single sentient female presence pervades the piece with a palpable sensuality - her movements are elegant, graceful, and sweeping. The men are vital, loud, and, at times, animalistic. At once, their movements are both comical and poignant. And those feathers. Long, swaying, phallic feathers that compliment beautiful dancing with an aesthetically pleasing movement all their own. Of course, I thought the dance was exquisite.

After the show, I lingered to hear the choreographers and dancers chat with the audience about the piece. One woman thought the feathers were an "exclamation mark" for whatever body part to which the feathers may be attached. Brian Webb suggested that the theme of discovery - as in discovering friendships, discovering conflict, discovering sexuality - really served the movement well as dancers 'discovered' how to relate to their props and how to carry their characters through the dance. One man asked what the significance of feathers attached to the knees of dancers might mean, since feathers attached to the pelvis was somewhat self-explanatory. Wen Wei replied,"It's just about the image. It's a beautiful image."

I am fairly new to contemporary dance but I do know that movement does not necessarily have to be motivated by some sort of agenda, like conveying a significance with societal or political weight. "The body is a clear place" said Eric Hawkins and I believe it, though I find it harder to live it. One particular dancer, Edmond Kilpatrick, did a superb job of dancing a solo free of sexual, political, societal, or psychological agenda. His solo consisted simply of his body, the feathers, and the space. It's a beautiful image.

In short, Brian Webb Dance Company has brought another inspiring performance to Edmonton and I couldn't be more grateful. Perhaps in return, I can persuade a few male friends to look into modern dance ... because I hope to see many many more performances like "Cock-pit" in the future.

Click here for a review of "Cock-pit" from a Vancouver e-zine.