A choreographic work by Santee Smith
A Constellation of Bones fuses influences from choreographer Santee Smith’s Mohawk tradition, writer KateriAkiwenzie-Damm’s Anishnabe roots and composer DeanHapeta’s Maori background and traditions. The work blends traditional stories and creation myths with contemporary expression to create poetic and kinetic images of men and women, earth and sky – a constellation of bones.
In Mohawk tradition, the first people were originally sky beings. In Maori creation myth, the sky is the male father, the earth the mother. Their children became light, longing for one another and wanting to be together. The two couples in A Constellation of Bones represent aspects of these creation stories. They evoke states of being, the dynamics of their interactions conjuring vivid images of intimacy and yearning.
One couple is conflicted, their movement divisive and angry, loss of identity or spiritual connection seeming to keep them apart, despite their desire to be together. The other couple is close, dancing in sensuous harmony.
The movement itself is a marriage of forms and forces. The choreography is deeply grounded, frequently using the upper body in a way that refers to contemporary dance. Much of the movement is connected to indigenous dance steps, with the centre of gravity low in the body. Other aspects of Ojibway dance enter Santee Smith’s choreography in the appearance of distinctive Grass Dance footwork, steps that spiral around the spine, down into the earth. There are references to traditional “haka” or Maori dance in the dancers’ hands; they shimmer and shake with swift, accelerating energy.
The dancers’ eyes sometimes spurt out darts of energy, and their breath is quick and percussive.
The work unfolds as a series of duets; often, the two couples dance simultaneously. The conflicted couple’s movement is full of thrown lifts and falls to the floor, alternate moments of agonized separation and ferocious partnering. The close couple’s attention is rapt and intimate, and they often dance in unison. Powerful stances low to the ground are contrasted to their upward reaching arms – movement at once earthy and ecstatic. The two women dance together, while the men perform a strong, strident, earthbound duet, dominating, retreating, testing strength – male force balanced by female strength. Beats pulse through the dancers’ torsos; they braid their bodies together, sculpting erotic shapes. Circles and spirals, shapes important in traditional form, are fundamental to the design of A Constellation of Bones and are highlighted in the choreography, the costumes and the lighting.
Dean Hapeta’s score is densely layered with spoken word. The sound is urban, strongly rhythmic; instrumentation and chant threaded through with beautiful images of sky, stars, storms, earth, struggle and light, words both spoken and projected.
A Constellation of Bones is relentlessly energized, propelled to a dimension where the dancers seem conduits for energies as forceful as lightning. They dance between earth and sky, caught in the play of pattern and light.
Carol Anderson
Image: Emily Law & Santee Smith by Cylla von Tiedemann