Another Tarantino Story promises to challenge conventional dance practices while incorporating a multidisciplinary approach to dance theatre. It doesn’t however entirely meet these expectations. Tag-lined as ‘not your mother’s dance company’ the California based ZDC vow to leave you ‘breathless’ and ‘shocked’ but the composite result is not so much a ‘slap in the face’ as a mother’s peck on the cheek.
Artistic director Rina van de Kamp introduces the piece to a standing audience who look on bemused at the (for now) empty rows of chairs. The introduction admits that this will be a disconnected piece that aims to showcase the best the company has to offer. The fractured result at times feeds in to a sporadic Tarantino-esque style but more often feels like a storyboard for something unfinished. This is definitely apparent in the film segment ‘The Choice’ which fails to fully capture the art of aerial performance. The ‘fuck you’ vest worn by Ashley Kohler-Reynolds in the opening sequence equally can be labelled as ‘nearly’. It does indeed pack a preliminary punch but it is otherwise lost in choreography that is not always original or surprising.
While the piece on the whole reads more as a germ of a powerful concept there are however strong themes which are recurrent throughout. The haggard wedding dress worn by Courtney Trowman is married with a white tutu in the final act and both repeated choreography and music choice unite prevalent themes of sex and violence. In its best moments drama is conveyed successfully (i.e. the climatic strobe-light sequence). However, movement and idea could be further developed to shift the performance from sometimes safe to always shocking.
Technically Courtney Trowman’s performance is strong and precise throughout with occasional moments of visceral passion and electricity that juxtapose the vulgar with the vulnerable perfectly. Kevin Deleen’s athletic training thumps through in powerful solo moments complete with disconcerting staring eyes that seek to invade and inspect each audience member.
For a Tarantino homage it is a relatively intimate affair but this by no means should indicate a lack of possibility. Another Tarantino Story has the potential to credit and then re-appropriate the master filmmaker’s legacy but it veers too close too often to its contemporary or lyrical roots. At its best, in a transition in which a trench-coat clad female engages and even sits with the audience as a way of persuading us down a dark road to the final act, the performance wholly emulates a Tarantino-esque tension. The roles of voyeur and performer are reversed just as the protagonists morality is confused in the final scene. Here the blend of vintage, tart and western music represents Tarantino but only on a superficial level. You are left not so much ‘exhilarated’ as expectant of a final bang (orgasmic or otherwise).
While Tarantino is characterised by a stylised approach to popular film, ZDC does not quite respond to the director’s filmmaking with its almost innovative production. There is slow-mo, a monologue and a cinematic closing scene but it never fully shakes-up any one theme or technique. Die-hard Tarantino fans will feel somewhat short-changed. Regardless, a very promising piece that needs development.
