Disturbing is not a word generally associated with ballet, yet then again, the subject of most ballets is not war.
“Drought and Rain Vol. 2,” a production from Company Ea Sola, came to Royce Hall this weekend as part of UCLA Live. Performed by members of the Vietnam National Opera Ballet of Hanoi, the show addressed the memory of the Vietnam War amongst today’s generation, young people who did not live through the combat.
Ea Sola, who fled Vietnam as a teenager, choreographed the show in order to explore the war’s lasting impact on Vietnamese culture and the effects of today’s violence saturated society.
The hour-long show was by no means a traditional ballet. Flashing lights and live drummers shared the stage with the dancers. The set was a large video screen, in front of which stood framed pictures of people who died in the war. This interesting mix of elements combined to show Sola’s non-violent outlook.
Much of Sola’s choreography had the dancers convulsing and writhing ““ there were certainly no pirouettes to be seen here ““ as they confront the horrors of combat. Seeing a group of lithe bodies contort across the stage is an unusual, arresting and ultimately disconcerting sight. The four drummers standing along the edge of the stage accompanied parts of the dancers’ performance. Their frenetic, rhythmic pounding added urgency to the dancers as they scurried and leapt across the stage.
Since the drumming came in bursts, the silent parts of the show allowed viewers to concentrate on the dancers themselves. The women were dressed in all black, their faces obscured behind veils of thick, black hair, while the men were clad in a combination of tight shorts and tanks that accentuated their muscular physiques. They were all barefoot and maintained blank expressions and confused, searching eyes throughout the show. In the silence, the exertion of movement could be heard in their heaving breaths, creating an intimate link between performer and viewer.
It was a continuous performance, and the absence of breaks and scene changes contributed to the show’s stream of consciousness feel, carrying the audience along on a nonstop journey as the dancers deal with their collective memories of violence.
The sense of loss associated with war was a recurring theme of the show. A lone, mourning woman dressed all in black appeared several times amidst the dancers, crossing the stage in a slow walk while singing a traditional Vietnamese funeral chant. Her haunting cries were accompanied by a recorded Vietnamese pop song. The lyrics were translated into scrolling English across the video screen, telling a woman’s story of losing her lover. It was a well delivered, appropriately sad homage to loss.
Overall, “Drought and Rain Vol. 2″ provided an honest portrayal of the devastating effects of war, a subject rarely explored through dance.
-Elizabeth Packer
E-mail Packer at epacker@media.ucla.edu.