Music and dance may be the oldest forms of human emotional expression. Strong rhythm and melody are powerful forces that make us want to move our bodies in sync, to feel the vibrations flow through us. The expression is raw and unfiltered.
Broken Rhythm Dance Company’s On Hold was performed at the McPherson Playhouse on Friday, April 4. Its namesake and theme were inspired by the experience of being on hold on the phone for insufferably long periods of time and how our minds wander in a way to cope with unimaginable boredom.
The show uses a good deal of humour, with dance numbers interjected by actual on-hold music and a voice telling us to please wait, because our call is very important and will be answered shortly. During these times, a dancer is shown splayed listlessly in a chair, fidgeting and awaiting the end of her endless tedium. The dance numbers themselves are sometimes flowing, often frenetic, and are an impressive display of choreography by skilled performers who, during the show I saw, maintained a 75-minute performance with no evident mistakes. The style reminded me of a combination of controlled dance such as ballet and more freeform street dancing, while the music varied from using traditional string and wind instruments and drums to strange contemporary sounds with a strong pulse and electronic mixing.
I did struggle to find meaning in most of the pieces, though. Many of them seemed to be nothing more than creative movement to a beat, and I felt awash in a sea of formless expression with no narrative through line. For some, this may be totally fine, but I found myself wishing for some sort of story that the emotion of the dance could emphasize.
This was underscored by the one piece that I could actually discern a story from. Two dancers were shown representing a complex romantic relationship where two people feel both love and contempt for each other, shifting rapidly between a desperate desire for closeness in one moment and literally pushing each other away in the next. This was such a powerfully relevant expression of the intricacies of human relationship that it brought tears to my eyes.
However, it was the only part of the performance that seemed to have a cohesive narrative identity, and consequently the only part of the performance that invoked an emotional reaction in me. Most of the time I was just bewildered, wondering, “What does this mean?” This kind of performance relies on a visceral connection with the music and dance that supersedes intellectual understanding, and I anticipate this limiting accessibility to a large portion of the audience who enjoy music and dance but need an emotionally poignant story in order to connect with it.
On Hold is a powerful performance by skilled artists who put a great deal of passion and dedication into their craft, but its neglect of narrative cohesion leaves it feeling rather exclusionary and elitist. It seems like a situation where an artist is performing only for the people who are fortunate enough to “get it” rather than creating an experience that can appeal to a wide audience, and I hope that the next performance we see from Broken Rhythms considers this.