Choreographed by Christopher House
A Toronto Dance Theatre Presentation
at the Fleck Dance Theatre
February 16-20, 2010

   As is so often the case with contemporary dance, the best thing in Christopher House’s new work is the program note. Dramaturge Guy Cools explains the etymology of the piece, asserting: “the vocabulary for the underlying ideas and concepts was found in Anne Carson’s essay Eros the Bittersweet.” Pteros is, of course, another name for Eros, and is therefore linked to creativity, memory, and imagination because creation is love, and art is the expression of love for the work as well as for the audience. Hence Christopher House’s paradigm in Pteros Tactics is a triangular relationship of choreographer, dancer, and audience. Alas, it is a wobbly relationship because the choreography is often uninspired—as is much of the dancing—and an audience will probably wonder what all the intellectual fuss is about.

   Eros probably indulges in flirtation in the legend, so House sets up massive flirtation or toying or teasing at the outset as he apparently borrows from A Chorus Line by having each of his ten dancers, looking casually relaxed, address the audience with one-line disclosures, assertions, jokes, invitations or demands, such as “I have strong hands,” “I can make you feel comfortable,” “I love Canada,” “I have beautiful breasts,” or “I want you.” In a very generalized way, the statements are expressions of desire, ardour, foreplay, and demand. The breaking down of the imaginary fourth wall is initially ingratiating but the piece soon grows much cooler, as far as audience involvement is concerned. Bodies collapsing in a comic wave, spasms of erotic twitches, clumsy or rudimentary games of catch (Eros can have projectile velocity, you see), and violent or aggressive kicks, chest bumps, et cetera soon grow repetitive and increasingly boring with each repetition. Pairs and larger groups define the vocabulary of limb twisting, as slappings of thighs suggest the beating of wings, one of House’s dominant movements to evoke “winged words” without words. There are sensual or erotic sequences, and one remarkable one with Pulga Muchchoma (easily the best dancer, even without his strong African chants) and Alana Elmer, but on the whole, there are only fragments of meaning but little coherence. Better to read Anne Carson’s essay itself.

   Phil Strong’s sound design sometimes crackles with mystery, and Roelof Peter Snippe’s lighting is good, as are the textured orbs suspended over the bare floor. The other dancers (Yuichiro Inoue, Kaitlin Standeven, Brodie Stevenson, Naishi Wong, Sarah Wasik, Linnea Wong, Syreeta Hector, and David Houle) can hopefully look forward to better dance works. 

photo: David Hou


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