Cydney Wilkes and Mike Barber’s “Impasse” is not to be missed
Barber in a slim green suit dancing furiously on an overhead ledge around a plexiglass box. Wilkes’ hand as she telegraphs movement to German Shepard and dancer through a wire fence. Wilkes and Barber circling one another, pre-attack. Cydney Wilkes and Mike Barber have created another compelling work with the kinds of unforgettable images, passages, and risk-taking that we’ve come to expect from the most dynamic pairing in Portland contemporary dance.
“A Certain Facilitation of Impasse,” by Cydney Wilkes and Mike Barber, moves through the Disjecta space, through solo, duet, the additions of dancers and dogs and back again.
Impasse grew out of a Djerassi residency at which the two seasoned choreographers were exploring ways of working together in the wake of their fascinating work on Wilkes’ yearlong riverside piece, “Penta.” Looking for ways of deepening the creative give and take when they quickly found themselves at…an impasse. They took a break to work on solo pieces, and when they came back to the choreographic table, they had the beginnings of “Impasse.”
It takes full advantage of the narrative and sometimes comic gifts of Barber’s movement and Wilkes’ commanding quietude and revisits themes they’ve investigated before including subtextual issues of choreographic command and control, playing with circumscribed space, separation and connection.
But the main reason to drop everything and go see is the dramatic tension between the two: when they lock in, it’s something fierce. Cydney Wilkes and Mike Barber: A Certain Facilitation of Impasse continues today at Disjecta (5 SE 3rd) with two performances at 2 PM and 8 PM. Doors open 1/2 hour before the show. $15.