Andrea Miller’s Gallim Dance Company premiered the commissioned work, Fold Here (September 26-29) as part of Peak Performances at Montclair State University. The box, mostly a cardboard box, projections and the cast of 9 dancers are what we see, and what helps to shape the story (if that’s what we are apt to get from the evening). Added to this environment is the impetus for getting to this point—the show—Raymond Carver’s story about guiding the eyes of a blind man to help him “see.” A stack of boxes are piled high stage right and two solid structures where the projections are shown is upstage right, across part of the back wall. Soon the dancers people the space. They are dressed in fabulously, colorful and funky variations of shorts, dresses, shirts and other “everyday” wear. They are beautiful. They take on the Miller’s vocabulary with ease. Uniquely, their malleable bodies run, create tableaus, make contact, manipulate each other’s body parts, topple, offer text here and there (and they are good at it), manipulate and dance with the boxes, plus they are just funny. Francesca Romo holds our attention in the subtle way she melds dance with humor. And, especially beautiful was the dance/theatre duo with Caroline Fermin and Dan Walczak where all the collaborative points (the dance, the set and the projections) gelled as one. The collaborators are: dancers (Franmcesca Romo, Eric Berey, Fermin, Allysen Hooks, Matthew Perez, Daniel Staaf, Emily Terndrup, Austin Tyson and Walczak); set concept designer (Jon Bausor); projection and video designer (Tal Rosner); lighting designer (Robert Wierzel); costumes designer (Jenny Lai); music and sound designer (Andrzej (Andrew) Przybytkowski; associate lighting designer (Amith A. Chandrashaker); and dramaturg (Alejandro Rodriguez).
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