Andre Koslowski is best known for the staggering emotional content of his work. His highly imaginative choreography brings to the stage what Salvador Dali brought to a painting - honest, surreal and dreamlike representations of the inner workings of the human mind.
Experiencing his work feels a lot like investigating a painting. Koslowski puts as much effort into the set design as he does the movement, creating a visual experience for the audience that extends much further than the reach of a hand or point of a toe.
In his latest work, “por la blanda arena,” Koslowski brings his company, Pennsylvania Dance Theatre, to the Kelly-Strayhorn stage. Although the full length work will be a Pittsburgh premiere, excerpts were shown at the newMoves Contemporary Dance Festival at the KST this past May.
In collaboration with stage designer, Susana Amundarain, musical collaborator and editor, Efrain Amaya, and costume designer, Naoko Nagata, the company will bring more than just a group of dancers. With a background in theater and dance, it is no surprise that Koslowski’s work crosses multiple genres of art.
But what goes on inside the mind of someone who creates work so distinctive? So peculiar, yet so palpable.
What is wonderful about the answer is that Koslowski reaches out to his collaborators to dive into their human experience, rather than mostly pulling from his own in a way that some self-serving artists do.
In this piece, he asked several questions of his dancers - What makes us unravel? What does it look like when we want to become invisible? What does it look like when we feel unstable? And then came the abstraction.
On the process of creation, he says, “I’ve become more and more interested in encouraging the dancers, when I ask questions, to take freedom in how they want to answer them. I don’t expect them to come up with a movement phrase but they can tell me a story or bring in an object or they can solve it through movement, if they want.”
And that is how we will come to see styrofoam mannequin heads on stage, as well as three large panels framed in white scrim, to name only a few of the many props. But, yes, there will be movement. And text. And sound.
Dancer, Jil Stifel, says that Andre is one of the most thoughtful choreographers she has ever worked with. “He has a great way of really honoring individual performers. It’s a very collaborative process but with a true director.”
Currently in remission from leukemia, Stifel says that she is still “unraveling,” and describes the piece as a place “in between having it together and not. We are all sort of on the brink, all the time. These characters are there.”
Jennifer Keller, who danced for one year with Koslowski in the Dance Alloy, has stayed in touch with him and began performing with PDT four years ago as a guest artist.
On working with Koslowski, she says, “Because he delves so much into the dance theatre aesthetic, it pushes me to do things I wouldn’t normally do in my own work in terms of dramatic elements. It challenges me emotionally to develop a character in a way that’s been different for me.”
In one rehearsal, Keller presented an explanation to Koslowski of a movement phrase she had created. As it turned out, Koslowski preferred the explanation over the movement, thus added the text to the work rather than the dance.
A specific section Keller helped develop is referred to by the performers as “the ugly dance.” The research assignment was to think about all the things they hated about themselves growing up, the physical attributes. It is a section most sincere audience members would be able to relate to.
Pennsylvania Dance Theatre draws upon both the humor and heartache of life in its evening length production of “por la blanda arena.” Like all of Koslowski’s work, the piece will evoke the senses, creating drama and scene without spectacle.
When: September 9th and 10th, 8:00 p.m. with a pre-show mixer at 7:00 p.m.
Where: Kelly Strayhorn Theater
Cost: $20 in advance, $25 at the door, $15 for residents of 15206, $10 for students and artists
Purchase tickets in advance HERE.
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