Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Kalman and Heginbotham’s THE PRINCIPALS OF UNCERTAINTY is a whimsical, if vague, affair

• By drediman
• October 1, 2017
• No Comments

Daniel Pettrow and Maira Kalman in “The Principals of Uncertainty” at BAM Fisher

Last night, I caught the final performance of The Principals of Uncertainty at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. This hybrid piece of dance-theater is based on a book of collected illustrations of the same name by Maira Kalman, a celebrated artist and writer whose illustrations have been seen in such publications as The New York Times and The New Yorker. Kaman’s pictures dreamily contemplate the “stuff” that fills our lives – people, places, objects, and whatnot. In adapting her work for the stage, Ms. Kalman has collaborated with choreographer John Heginbotham and his dance company to translate her illustrations’ Kunera-esque musings on the lightness and ephemeral qualities of life.

Mr. Heginbotham, of the Mark Morris school, whimsically captures the throw-away quality of day-to-day existence. Indeed, the influences of his mentor were abound – the floating phrases, the pregnant gestures. This approach does well to convey life’s at times frustrating vagueness and formlessness. But unlike Mr. Morris, particularly in his masterful manifesto L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, Mr. Heginbotham fails to give us a glimpse of the the grandeur of human existence (Through art? Through community?). Therefore, Kalman and Heginbotham’s stage creation ultimately feels clinical and detached, despite its seemingly sunny disposition. It also feels, as result, somewhat unsatisfying as a piece of theater.

The performers can’t be faulted. The six dancers onstage moved well in their idiosyncratic ways and were also quite good actors. They danced to music performed live by four young members of chamber ensemble The Knights; their music-making was benign and a pleasing element to the evening. However, the piece only truly came to focus when Kalman herself, joined occasionally by Daniel Pettrow, recited passages from her work. Everything else seemed a hazy dream. But perhaps that was the point.

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THE PRINCIPALS OF UNCERTAINTY
Dance
The BAM Fischer Theater
1 hour (no intermission)
Closed