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dance H*Art*Chaos Leaves Audiences Awestruck Phillips by Judy H *Art*Chaos is an all-female modern dance troupe from Japan, founded in 1989 hy choreographer Sakiko Oshima with co-choreographer and principal dancer Naoko Shirakawa. Although the dancers in this company are all trained in classical ballet, traditional is the word furthest from my mind to describe the performance H*Art*Chaos gave at the Centennial Theatre December 1 and 2. Known for their innovative, frenetic style, as well as their deconstruction of renowned works such as Romeo and Juliet and Swan Lake, H*Art*Chaos brought the audience to their feet for a performance that became an emotional outpouring on stage. The beautiful aria to which Abyss, the first performance of the evening, opens is quickly drown out by Toshiyuki Ochiai's industrial score as dancer Kumiko Kikuchi confronts night in a hellish journey. It is a journey, in the words of choreographer Oshima, to the "ultimate end of existence, where the words 'human being' have lost their meaning." Sounds of rapid gunfire and the shrill whistle of an off-the-air broadcast signal punctuate the score and mirror Kikuchi's disturbing journey. Convulsing as if controlled by a mad puppeteer's strings, Kikuchi gyrates violently. Contorted butoh-like movements -- a foot turned inward, an arm twisted upward in struggle -- are contrasted with short, sharp rapid-fire contractions and turns. Fifteen minutes of this brands a disturbing image in one's mind. It is hard to lake your eyes off Kikuchi during the performance. But full attention is focused on three ghostly figures once they are on the floor, having abandoned the Japanese screens which sheltered them. They drag themselves across the stage, their shaved heads gleaming in the smoky light. As they turn back to retrace their path, white flower petals are left strewn in their wake. When at lasl the music returns to an aria, Kikuchi's once perfectly coiffured hair is now wild, but she seems to have found a peace of sorts, as, according to Oshima. "a wanderer, having abandoned her own existence." emerge seconds later. In this scene, Shirakawa exemplifies the exquisiteness and precision of Oshima's dancers. Oshima describes her Rite of Spring as portraying a victim, "a sacrifice of society....Our society has been waiting for the 'spring,' the year 2000. And to welcome the spring, it might be you or me that should be sacrificed for the 'Rite,'" says Oshima. "What I would like to create in my Rile of Spring of our time is the premonition of our coming spring in the bodies of dancers and in our entire society." In this dark tale, Shirakawa dodges to avoid being bombarded by swinging chairs suspended from the ceiling by ropes. Eventually captured by her oppressors, who are dressed in masculine suits, Shirakawa is again victimized as her head is pushed into the bathtub, now full of water. In the ensuing struggle, water sprays across the stage, and I worry about those members of the audience sitting in the front row. Theatrical devices are used to great effect in this performance. Hooks and pulleys suspend the dancers in midair, while the suspended chairs are also props to be climbed over and danced upon. The climax occurs when Shirakawa is hooked up to a pulley and swings out over the stage, above the audience's heads. Although adventurous, these theatrics at times seemed overpowering. All in all, H*Art*Chaos offered an energetic, at limes chilling, experience which left me wondering, is all movement dance? eo Like the first piece. The Rite of Spring, set to the Stravinsky score of the same name, is a study in black and white in terms of light- 4fe ing and costume. The starkness of the set accentuates the story's bleakness. In the midst of the overturned furniture that we see as the lights rise, huddles a traumatized, abused woman. In a display of frantic energy, she somersaults over and around the furniture, then abruptly stops, motionless, staring into space. This is The Rile of Spring turned upside down: the performance begins with the victim, rather than ending with one. Expansive arabesques, high leg lifts, and mad spins define dancer Shirakawa's torment. In one episode, limbs slowly escape from an old-fashioned bathtub set at the corner of the stage, until Shirakawa is fully emerged. She executes a stunning arabesque standing on the edge of the bathtub, but then falters and sinks down into the bathtub, only to re- t H*Art*Chaos Centennial December performed Theatre on at the I and 2. 1997. Judy Phillips is a Senior Editor at Self-Council Press and copy edits Arts Alive. She has also trained in classical dance.