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In Mario Bigonzetti’s version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” choreographer Bigonzetti creates paintings and sculptures out of the story, meanwhile communicating through this art that we are all essentially animals in our conquest for love. Italian dance company Aterballeto performed the piece’s only U.S. engagement July 19-20 at the Orange County Performing Arts Cener in Costa Mesa, California.<P>The curtain on Aterballeto’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” rises on what looks like an artist’s studio. Large sheets cover what appear to be three unfinished sculptures and a dancer wearing all-white painter’s clothing leaps across the stage frenetically. This frenetic movement sets the tone for Bigonzetti’s very unique version of “Midsummer.” This “Midsummer” is completely unlike the other two well-known dance versions of the bard’s play. First of all, the Balanchine and Ashton stagings are clearly classical pieces, using period, ballet-style costumes and pointe shoes. The Balanchine/Ashton versions are also much more literal manner, using period costumes and more literally retelling the story. The dancing is more modern than classical – and there are pointe shoes here and there, but even those aren’t used classically (Puck, for example, wears a boot on one foot and a pointe shoe on the other). And the story is much more abstract. It is, of course, still told, but there is much more suggestion and the movements reflect themes that Bigonzetti extricates from the Shakespearean text.<P>Bigonzetti’s choreography is intensely physical, sometimes hinging on manic and animalistic. Meanwhile, at appropriate moments, there are surprising bursts of lyricism interspersed throughout the piece.<P>The opening tableau, with sheets covering what appear to be three sets of sculptures, also establishes a theme for the piece. That is that the entire work is the work of an artist working on his or her palette. In the introduction, the sheets are eventually lifted off to reveal dancers standing in pose - three groups of dancers who represent the central couples of the story. The corps – dressed in black and white painter’s work clothing – dances around these “sculptures,” and as the story begins to move into the main plot, the corps “sculpts” them into specific positions that represent different elements of the plot. As the corps exits the stage, one by one, the sculptures are animated and send the story forward.<P>This action that they spring into is quite fascinating. Some of it propels the storyline forward while other choreography suggest keys to the inside of the character – keys that Bigonzetti saw and which one might not normally think of seeing. Take, for example, the character of Titania, Queen of the Fairies. She is normally portrayed as a regal, elegant beauty. In Aterballeto’s “Midsummer,” she is an animal creature with wild hair, claws, and a nasty scowl. Oberon and her fairies are portrayed similarly – as decidedly uncuddly wild animals.<P>The character of Puck is the central figure in the story. In the play, Puck is pretty much the orchestrator of the play’s plot complications; in Bigonzetti’s version, Puck is dressed in tights that appear to have been splashed with paint in the way that a painter’s clothing is covered with various different colors of paint from working on a painting. Puck is the artist in Bigonzetti’s metaphor that creates the work of art that we see on stage the same way that he creates craziness in the play. <P>Interestingly, a woman plays Puck in Bigonzetti’s “Midsummer.” It adds to the sensuality of the character that Bigonzetti has chosen to accentuate throughout the production. Instead of using an ointment and flower to cast a spell, Puck goes up to the characters to be affected and gives them a nice big lick.<P>The entire production, actually, is charged with sensuality. The two sets of human lovers in the story first appear to us fully clothed. Then, as they begin chasing each other through the forest, the clothing disappears – the men appear without shirts, the women in very short dresses. As the spell takes affect at the end of the story, they are stripped pretty much to their underwear. This lack of clothing in combination with the animalistic nature of the choreography leads us to see that Bigonzetti seems to be making a point here: at the core of this love play and of human nature are certain animalistic, primitive impulses that drive us all.<P>So what we got in Costa Mesa, California was a highly intriguing, different, and choreographically satisfying version of “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The sets were appropriately sparse and complemented Bigonzetti’s symbolism. <P>Veronique Dina Jean was simply amazing as Puck. She had this immense presence on stage and she was also daring enough to lick everyone - and in once case, drag Bottom around with her teeth. Also of note was Ina Broeckx as Titania, who still managed to be a beauty while crawling around like an animal, growling.<P>Elvis Costello’s original score for the piece – played from tape for the Orange County performances - was simply fantastic. It was multi-layered, at times lyrical, and always in keeping with the mood of the piece without being rendered mere accompaniment. Keep your eyes out for a CD.<p>[This message has been edited by art076 (edited July 25, 2002).]
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