Back for its winter season, the Periapsis Music and Dance Collaboration series showcased a wide variety of works in the spirit of Valentine’s Day. Love was depicted as an act of passion through the portrayal of jealousy, the act of sex and even death. In Ursula Verduzco’s Pushing Mud, for which she was the main soloist, self love was shown to be entirely influenced by the treatment of others. Though the piece opened with a self-loathing ballet solo on pointe which she infused with strong flamenco-like gestures of her arms, pushing an imaginary skirt aside as she took each step, she eventually surrounded herself with an entourage of dozens of dancers. Little by little, they appeared to frame her and take cues from the from the movement she initiated. Verduzco snaked in and out of the human wall they formed around her. After several duets, the group began to move in the same direction as Verduzco and she slowly surrendered to the movement of the group. The love of oneself in this piece was thus minimal due to its full dependence on others. Overall it was quite aesthetically pleasing, even though seeing a choreographer indulge in a solo surrounded […]
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