This privately funded ensemble managed to establish itself in a bit off the main road niche.
By ORA BRAFMANOPEN SOURCE 370(photo credit: Marian Alders)
Maria Kong dance group presented its premier of Open Source, its first work choreographed by Talia Landa. This privately funded ensemble managed to establish itself in a bit off the main road niche, based on strong physical dancers, a singular esthetic look, with unique design elements and somewhat enigmatic artistic path with cross messages.Landa, founder and leader of the group, under layered.Open Source on a story with phantasm elements of love, passion and a mingling sorcerer. The result is a powerful performance by Caroline Boussard, Luciene Castro Fontanella, Anderson Braz and Artour Astman, and each had its solo to prove it.It is probably one of the more sensuous dances on contemporary local dance stage, outside of pole dancing lounges. Strangely enough, besides a plethora of suggestive scenes, the final scene with the strongest erotic tones was a duet by Boussard and Braz, danced on the floor three feet apart from each other, and conveyed true delicate feelings.The uneasy feelings came from the blurred intentions, mixing wide range of references from sci-fi films to conventional mirror symmetries, from fragmented techno moves to flowing technique in mid action. There were many scattered ideas – some with definite interest – that lacked coherent direction, even in the supportive roles of costume and lighting design.Musical director Tal Ben Ari who also composed some sections, deserves a special mention for the last song that accompanied the closing scene. It was a beautiful fusion song performed by vocalist Ravid Kahalani and Alon Amano on the guitar. Both wore long, flowing, coveting caftans and added much deserved concrete context.
