Fringe, Reviewed: The Four Seasons
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
"What could be contextless and strange in another context takes on hints of reinvention."
[ dance ]
The Four Seasons, by Kate Horton and others
Attended: Sept. 13, at St. Frances de Sales Parish, closed Sept. 14.
Created after a rough winter, this piece takes us through the internal struggles, the emotional ups and downs, the physical changes, and the mental struggles we all go through over the course of a year.
WE THINK:
Don’t fault this production for having perhaps the (accidentally) worst branding of any show in the entire festival, as it has almost the same title as a curated Fringe show this year by Romeo Castellucci. The piece’s creator, local choreographer and dancer Katie Horton, acknowledged this problem by saying “This is not The Four Seasons Restaurant," before the performance began. If you can successfully avoid a misunderstanding of the show that you’re seeing and try to take this dance piece on its own merits, then you’ll find a lot to enjoy about this subtly moving dance piece.
There are no frills to “The Four Seasons”. Despite the grandiose trappings of St. Francis de Sales Parish (West Philadelphians know this as the gorgeous domed church that’s visible from most parts of Baltimore Avenue west of 50th Street), the small auditorium where the piece is staged is remarkably humble.
The piece opens rather informally, with a noise-machine-like noise opening the production’s slow ballet/modern dance-style choreography. Horton and two other dancers build their movements to a fever pitch over the course of four interlinked movements, distinguished only by their use of ambient music (delayed post-rock guitar in the second one, tentative non-rhythmic drums in the fourth, and non-sounds in the other two). What could be contextless and strange in another context takes on hints of reinvention and new growth in The Four Seasons. The piece’s standout was the third movement, in which Horton had a solo portion that seemingly depicted anguished attempts at getting up, with repeated motions that almost read as neurotic self-awareness – something which rarely reveals itself in dance performances.
This is not The Four Seasons Restaurant. Still, it’s worth understanding The Four Seasons in all its informal and unsettlingly beautiful glory.
