Artist Andy Goldsworthy’s stage is the natural world. His work is extensively documented through photographs or video, but almost always takes place in the natural settings where he finds his materials. And his creations are often ephemeral—leaves arranged and floated on a forest pond into a precise tapestry. And occasionally monumental, like the 2013 piece, “Culvert Cairn,” a teardrop-shaped arrangement of stone set into a man-made, circular grotto.
Oberlin Dance Collective’s hour-long dance piece, boulders and bones (presented Saturday as part of Alverno Presents), begins with a gorgeously produced video montage documenting the creation of “Culvert Cairn,” and creates a variation of it onstage. First, RJ Muna’s photographs of walls of rugged stone form the backdrop. Then cellist Erin Wang emerges through the center of the screen, occupying a culvert of her own on a movable platform with a steel frame that encircles her and her instrument. Wang plays Zoë Keating score, which uses electronic looping to turn small melodic elements into a rich orchestral landscape, just as Goldsworthy builds monuments from leaves or stones.
As the title suggests, Way and Nelson want to make analogies between the choreographer’s manipulation of the body and Goldsworthy’s manipulation of stone, leaves, and branches. And they do so in often startling ways. In one signature gesture, one dancer holds another by the hips, suspending her in midair the way a football center holds a snapped ball. At times, dancers hold their partners vertically but upside down. And at other times, one dancer moves the other into a particular position—limb-by-limb—like an artist working with her material of choice. The choreography unfolds in a through line, making occasional nods to structure, but mostly spinning through a cascade of varied ideas.
The major through line offers a subtle tribute to Goldsworthy’s work. This is a dedicated ensemble work, but Josie Sadan stands out as a “lead” dancer early on. And as the piece progressed, her costume slowly adds bright red elements. In her final mesmerizing solo, she is clad entirely in diaphanous scarlet, boldly set against the earth tones that surround her.
That particular use of color is one of Goldsworthy’s trademarks, subtly altering the landscape to juxtapose sharp contrasts that are part of the natural world, but often unrecognized by careless eyes. In that way, boulders and bones is a fitting complement to Goldsworthy, a careful blend of the natural and the human-made into art that helps us see the world—and the body—in fresh new ways.
