"a strong US debut...a promising future"

July 21, 2005 performance, reviewed by Connell McGrath

In its US debut at Jacob's Pillow this week, A Poc A Poc is showing its own brief history from classroom exercises to mature and original choreography. The company was founded in Barcelona in 1994 by choreographer Jaime Camarena and is now based in Mexico City. Camarena began his career dancing ballet with Mexico's Compania Nacional de Danza. For eight years he lived and danced in Europe with such modern notables as Maguy Marin and Pina Bausch. During that time, he absorbed much of the contemporary dance vocabulary used by those choreographers, and began to evolve his own style. He returned to Mexico in 1999 with A Poc A Poc (spanish for "little by little"), and has been garnering critical acclaim ever since.

A Poc A Poc performed Amor Udri, a work in four pieces that spans the existence of the young company. According to Camarena this work is "a panorama of human weakness and strength" that explores love's effect on humanity. It begins with E Pur Si Muove ("nevertheless, it moves") which gained the company wide recognition in 1999. The piece is set to music and sound ranging from Estonian Arvo Part's "Psalom" to clicks and hums by mid-century iconoclast Harry Partch to traditional Swedish folk music. E Pur Si Muove blends contemporary notions of art with ritual folk traditions both in its musical selection and in movement. The movement vocabulary includes ballet, modern and animalistic movements that draw from Mexico's Aztec history. The choreography is interesting but is unformed, or not yet complete. At a few points in this early piece I was reminded of modern dance class exercises, as if the piece were a catalog of the movements Camarena has learned along the way.

Voz Sumergida (Submerged Voice—2003) is a solo work beautifully danced on review night by Carolina Patino to Saudade by Lula Pena. A Saudade (the word 'saudade' means longing or desire in Portuguese) is a Brazilian ballad that is wistful in an indolent, dreamy way. To this music, Camarena sets a sinuous, erotic dance that draws on ballet and more modern floor work.

Binomios y Antinomios (Binomials and Antinomials—2004) was danced by Jacqueline Lopez and Far Alonso. Again set to interesting and lovely music, this time the baroque Pieces de viole Book II by Marin Marais (court composer to Louis XIV). This one had some interesting moments, but was burdened by recurring pantomime that was a bit too campy of two courting lovers discovering the world together. However, it was well-staged and lit.

The last piece of the series was Copula Negra (Dark Union—2004) set to music called Phon by Gregory Kozak. The stage was set up with two big hammocks hanging about 5' off the ground at their lowest point. It started with two women dragging men behind them in black gauze cocoons. The men emerge and start with floor work, then acrobatic dancing from the hammocks. The women re-enter and dance alone, then with the men, sometimes hanging from the hammocks, sometimes climbing into them. It ends with clear depictions of sex between the men and the women, each couple in their own hammocks. The action is so forthright that it was startling. Some of the hammock work was distracting with the dancers having to set up their movements carefully so as not to fall out.

In all the dancing Copula Negra was the most mature of the four works and Camarena shows a more original voice and greater ability to integrate his ideas into a unified style. A Poc A Poc are making a strong US debut with this performance, and the increasing sophistication and mastery of the later works over the earlier ones indicate a promising future for this company.

A Poc A Poc
The Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival - Box Office: (413) 243-0745.
Online ticketing: jacobspillow.org.