Review: Faith Triptych. Conceived and choreographed by Pat Graney. Performed by The Pat Graney Company. At On the Boards, October 21-24.
Naked. This is a word that would typically entice most adults. However, in the case of Faith Triptych, the excruciatingly long modern dance showcase from Pat Graney, there was nothing even remotely enticing about the show. It was a dull, tortuous dance. Even the usage of full frontal nudity could not save this performance.
Graney is a renowned choreographer and this showcase marks her 30th year of dance making. The Boston Globe has called her “one of the top modern choreographers in the country.” None of this supposed brilliance and talent translated into an enjoyable, relatable show. Faith Triptych combined 3 “iconic” pieces that Graney created over the course of a decade. Each of the individual dances is originally over two hours long each. Significant cuts were to cram all three dances into one evening. Even at a “trim” three-and-a-half hours, the show was still way to long. Apparently, one thing that Graney has not learned during her decades of dance experience is how to edit. Good lord, she does not know how to edit.
The first of the three dances was called Faith, which according to the program, was supposed to be some sort of commentary on religion and art. Mostly, I was distracted by the off-putting use of monk-like music and the fact that the bulk of the choreography involved walking and posing. About halfway through the piece, Graney, for reasons unbeknownst to me, decided to have her dancers perform completely naked. Instead of tasteful, brief nudity, the naked portion of the first dance seemed endless. The full-frontal nudity lasted a good thirty minutes and the majority of the choreography consisted of religiously symbolic poses. For example, both the image of Jesus during the crucifixion and the Sistine chapel where recreated on stage. In itself, those recreations would have been boring, but acceptable. For some reason, the nudity-infused portion of Faith was also the part with the heaviest and most obvious religious allusions. I am nowhere near being a prude and I can appreciate most artistic choices, as long as they make sense with the narrative of the production. The endless nudity seemed like a cheap attempt at shock value. All it managed to do was distract from the flimsy storyline of Faith.
Arguably, the best of the three dances was the second piece, entitled Sleep. In this narrative, the dancers visually depicted a bizarre dreamlike state that chronicled the dreams of a girl, from childhood until death. It was like watching a bizarre collection of vignettes, but since the piece has a strong, dominating storyline, it was much more enjoyable to watch. Sleep also included more prominent visual elements that helped to engage the audience. During the wedding portion of the dream, for example, the dancers performed under a constant waterfall of rice that poured from the ceiling. As unusual as it was, it was definitely interesting to watch. More so than the other two dances, Sleep managed to be somewhat relatable as well as visually interesting.
The final piece of the night was entitled Tattoo. Graney definitely did not save the best for last. Besides literally having the dancers perform naked (AGAIN) with tattoos, there was absolutely no connection between the title and the train wreck that was presented on stage. Honestly, it was like Graney was under some sort of time crunch and decided to just throw together a bunch of random scenes to make a third dance. This final piece was long, visually dull and blatantly absurd. An entire scene consisted of a dancer sitting in a chair, loudly eating a bag of potato chips. That was it. That was the entire scene. There is a point where creativity exits the realm of art and enters the world of bizarre nonsense. Of the three pieces, Tattoo was the only number that actually contained a small amount of choreographed “dancing” (as opposed to walking, posing or rolling around on stage). It was at this point in which my dislike for the show was solidified. The technique of the dancers during the more traditional choreography was so bad that it simply could have not been on purpose.
Overall, Faith Triptych is overblown and overrated. During the entire show I kept thinking, “In what way is this supposed to be actual dancing?” Even in a world of modern art, there should be some elements of actual technique and training, as well as a discernible theme and storyline. Given that this was promoted as a dance performance, I hoped to see at least some elements of professional technique and choreography, especially from someone of Graney’s stature. While modern art will not necessarily be accessible to everyone, it should attempt to appeal to its audience. Given how empty the theater was at the start of the final dance, it is painfully obvious that Faith Triptych failed in that respect.
– Chris Heide
