"Relatively Real"
The germination of improvisation
By Brangien Davis

"You might as well just say it's a dance about people," says KT Niehoff of her new piece, "Relatively Real." The local choreographer is poking a bit of fun at her own press materials, which tout the work as straddling "beauty and darkness, pleasure and fear, humor and horror." But she's also hinting at the stripped-down creative approach she took with her new endeavor, eschewing artifice in favor of art.

"Over the past decade I've focused on craft and using my external eye," Niehoff explains, "Now I'm trying to trust that it's there, but not bring it into the creative process." During the yearlong development of "Relatively Real," Niehoff worked to keep thoughts of an audience at bay.

"As soon as I started to lock in on an idea I thought might be clever, I tried to shelve it," she says. This allowed her to create movement with a different, more internal motivation. The result? "I think it deepened emotion in the work," she says.

Niehoff also notes that thanks to funding, she and her company, Lingo dancetheater, had the luxury of a long gestation period, which allowed ideas to emerge organically. "I've always sourced choreography from a concept, as opposed to from nothing," she says. This time her improvisational process determined the content.

The piece addresses issues of self and identity, touching on gender roles, androgyny and alter egos. "It explores what you choose to conceal and reveal," Niehoff says, "In a highly abstracted way."

On a stage adorned with eight large rolling screens (which Niehoff deems "Stonehengey"), the company works both amid and in consort with animation and film design by Stefan Gruber. In duets, trios, quartets, and the full ensemble, the dancers become "animated" themselves, using their bodies and costuming to reference and exaggerate stereotypes.

The overarching mood is set with a score by Adam McCollom, which Niehoff describes as "big, lush, and complexly electronic." Also sure to be in evidence are Niehoff's always stunning athleticism and her endearing sense of humor.

Brangien Davis: brangiendavis@yahoo.com