This is how lucky Tucson is:
Artifact Dance Project lives, creates and performs here.
Try to get in to see the company's world premiere of its "Animal Farm" —there are just a few "restricted view" seats left — and you'll agree.
This is a company that explodes with talent and imagination.
And it spreads it's arms out and embraces other artistic forms, immersing the audience in a sort of orgy of art.
"Animal Farm" takes place in a giant box filled with red sand (David Alexander Johnston gets credit for the scenic design). It is placed in the center of the Museum of Contemporary Art's main gallery, a one-time fire house with floor to ceiling glass doors and a ceiling that soars high overhead. Gorgeous lighting by Daniel Kersh punctuated the hope and ultimately the tragedy of the story. Often, the dancers shadows were cast on a wall, big and threatening.
The Tucson Girls Chorus lent their voices, clear and hopeful and oh so beautiful. Opera favorite Korby Myrick's mezzo-soprano voice rang over the space, adding more depth and poignancy to moments. The music of Bach and Prokofiev and Handel and Schubert and Mozart and others was performed live and seemed to add just the drama, or grace, or sorrow required. Amazingly, neither the voices nor the music was swallowed up by this huge space; it seemed to enhance them.
But it is the dance that is most riveting. Choreographed by Ashley Bowman, Claire Hancock and Logan Moon Penisten, the 11 dancers told the tale with astounding athleticism, grace and precision. They beautifully evoked the animals who revolt with great hope and dream of a life of equality and abundance for all before the lust for power and greedy spirits destroy it for everyone.
Most of the performance takes place in the sand box. The dancers in their flesh colored costumes twist and leap and soar and each movement gets them a little dirtier. It is as though the dirt that at first supports them ultimately swallows them.
There are two rows of seats all around the stage. The audience is right there with the performers. We don't get dirty, but we sure do get what George Orwell was saying with his dystopian tale about class structures and corruption. The metaphor-rich story inspired by the Russian revolution resonates today just as it did when it was first published in 1945.
There's something magical about Artifact — it's smart, it is consistency stunning visually, and the talent astounds.
This "Animal Farm" is proof of that. Lucky you if you can score a ticket.
"Animal Farm" is 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 7-9, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 265 S. Church. Tickets are $20 at 235-7638 or artifactdanceproject.com.
