REVIEW
Intrinsic Romance
By Ashley P. Taylor
Managing Editor
The New England contradance is a familyfriendly activity. Men and women of all ages
pair up to form long lines “up and down the
[grange] hall.” The band puts bow to string, and
the dance begins, a repeating sequence of dosi-dos, figure eights, and, of course, swings. The
lady and her partner (or whoever plays those
roles—same-sex couples are common) hold
each other by the shoulders on one side, and on
the other, hold out clasped hands like the spoke
of a wheel. They spin, pivoting around on the
ball of one foot, pulling apart like samples in a
centrifuge, staring into each other’s eyes, the
only relatively still points in the whirling room.
As the dance progresses, each dancer travels
toward or away from the band, taking a new
partner with each repetition of the sequence.
Everybody dances with everyone; there’s nothing personal about it. And yet every once in a
while, a young woman gets swung so fast, by
someone tall and straight and solid, that she
SciArt in America April 2014
“4Chambers” dancers. Photo credit: wowe.
Image courtesy of Jody Oberfelder.
feels effervescent, as if she is going to catch the
breeze with her skirt; this fellow’s touch has
momentarily transformed her world. The same
woman occasionally wishes she didn’t have to
dance with certain particularly sweaty or bossy
or creepy partners, but she can’t avoid it, either;
it’s part of the dance.
Contradances are a blend of romance and
formality. These magnetic moments of attraction and repulsion exist as a milky cloudiness
beneath the smooth surface of ritual. Similarly,
submerged romance is stirred up by “4Chambers,” the interactive dance by Jody Oberfelder
Projects at Arts@Renaissance in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on view this past February and
March.
In the piece, audience participants interact with dancers while traveling through four
rooms representing various aspects of the heart:
physical, medical, emotional. “4Chambers” puts
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