American Dance Festival: Martha Clarke's

We had a great time enjoying the first 2007 performer at the American Dance Festival, Martha Clarke's Garden of Earthly Delights. Many are familiar with Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516) and his The Garden of Earthly Delights, depicting the descent of mankind after creation into temptation and destruction. Using a remarkably integrated cast of dancers, many of whom doubled as musicians and all of whom were stage hands hoisting each other on aerial scaffolding, Martha Clarke shared an interpretation of the painting. The near-transparent costumery, powerful emotion, and tremendous aerial aspects made for a powerful performance. We picked tonight because it featured a post-performance discussion; many of us, including me, were fortunate to be able to get our questions answered (I asked about how difficult it was to dance while "flying", and how the aerial wiring could have been less noisy).