Television’s gone digital and phones no longer have buttons. Design in all forms is focused obsessively on jettisoning the no-longer-necessary. The new paradigm is lean and clean, and “reduce” is revealing itself to be a directive that preempts much of the need to reuse and recycle. Seemingly fueled by this trend, Synapse Arts Collective’s Stridulate visits reduction upon language and movement, two realms prone (albeit beautifully, at times) to extravagance and excess.
Rachel Damon and Dan Mohr in Stridulate. Photo by Tim Ballard.
Born of a nearly year-long process, this hour-long work has definitely benefitted from a marination in its own juices. The quintet that performs it, which includes co-creators Rachel Damon and Dan Mohr, has spent enough time mapping the terrain of extralingual vocalization and gestural, formal movement to capitalize upon the richness of its internal logic. Seen in progress early in March, Stridulate had birthed some interesting and unique material; what’s notable about its premiere is how beautifully each of these environments have found their place in the work, complementing one another in an arc that feels full and complete. Read More…
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