trailerpilot

Watching Asimina Chremos and Pillars & Tongues play off each other tonight at Links Hall for the first collision_theory built some serious anticipation for the remainder of Rachel Damon and Dan Mohr’s monthly series. True to the rules, the three musicians and dancer did in fact not meet until this afternoon. Preliminary planning of their collaborative improvisation was brief, and likely discarded upon its start. In navy lace leggings, an aubergine skirt and sheer shift, Chremos began with movement I’ve not seen from her before and became increasingly less predictable.

Whereas Chremos’ magic usually lies in fleet imagery that tricks perception and short-term memory (Was that a crown turning into antlers? Did I just see a kangaroo explode?), something about Pillars & Tongues’ harmonic drone and epic sawing enticed Chremos to burn shapes into space. Prone and lateral planks, sometimes propped on a single elbow or knee, wrapped her yoga study in sculptural weight like Henry Moore at an ashram; arms outstretched and wrists beveled, she kneeled in cambré like Nijinsky’s Faune offered for ritual sacrifice. Rocking triplets like someone catching their balance on a boat in rough seas and brave, long penchées with arms sliced out sideways seemed to grow right out of the soft tom hits, bellowing harmonium, slant-rhymed violin and bass, and prelingual vocals of Evan Hydzik, Elizabeth Remis, and Mark Trecka.

On tap for the next collision_theory are Darrell Jones, Kirstie Simson and Technical Drawings who, from what I’ve heard, are a little like Panda Bear transcribed for prepared piano with a touch of to-hell-with-it, Björky insomnia. To put it another way, you should be there November 9.