MNfusion: Despite Beautiful Execution, SEOP's Message Lost In Ordway Show

Admittedly, when it comes to dance I am a dunce.

I can follow ballet alright, but that mostly has to do with the fact that I already know the story going into the show. "The Nutcracker," "Swan Lake," "Cinderella," I know those stories.

So when it comes to interpreting contemporary dance shows, I'm often challenged.

I found that to be the case Saturday during the SEOP Dance Company's performance of "A Man's Requiem." Even with the theme outlined in the program, I still found myself lost in translation.

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SEOP Dance Company is a South Korean contemporary dance company that was founded in 1992. Kim Yong Chul, head choreographer and dancer, blends elements of traditional and modern Korean dance to create contemporary pieces.

On Saturday, March 5, the group performed "A Man's Requiem" at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts.

As outlined in the program, the piece explored themes of death, judgement and religion.

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Thematically, the piece began simply enough.

The first movement featured three dancers standing in a line, with one in front of the other.

The first person in line is Yong Chul dressed in a black robe with colorful pieces of cloth hanging off. The second person is a man in a suit, and the third is a man draped in pieces of white cloth with a face painted completely white.

Yong Chul begins the movement by dancing erratically in place for quite some time, while the man in the suit stays stationary and the man in white slowly moves his arms methodically behind both men.

After a few minutes, Yong Chul drops to the ground and subsequently leaves the stage.

Several floor mirrors appear, each with a dancer posed behind it.

The man in white, who I deemed to be the personification of death, then slowly coaxes the man in the suit off the stage.

This part, as I understood it, was the man facing himself and his choices before death ultimately claimed him.

As the show went on, the themes got a bit lost on me.

The next scene had eight dancers lined in a row.

Each was dressed in a white leotard and tutu with a spandex white headdress.

They were kneeling on stage in a child's pose, and sheets of tissue paper lay in front of them.

The scene began with the eight breathing in, leaning over and scrunching one piece of tissue paper at a time into a bundle.

They did this twice before placing the bundle in their headdresses.

The remaining two sheets of tissue paper were made into flowers, and the eight began to dance around their respective flower.

Soon, Death appeared, and the dancing turned much more rigid.

While unsure of what place in the man's journey of judgement and acceptance this was, the sound effects made by the tissue paper were astounding. The crumbling of the paper all at once in the quiet theater sounded like wind blowing through the seats. And the performers ability to breathe, bend and bundle in unison was no small feat.

The following scenes were as intriguing as they were confusing.

A number that included confetti and a sheet pulled over the audience followed the flower sequence, and the show ended with an elaborate umbrella dance.

It was all beautiful, but I was left trying to figure out what story was told.

However, when I let go of trying to connect each movement to a meaning, I found the show was much more enjoyable.

Suddenly, I was able to focus on the dancer's amazing physicality, their awesome flexibility and their unbelievable strength, versus what part of the man's journey we were at.

At some point throughout the show, each dancer exhibited incredible flexibility, agility and strength. Through yoga-like poses to ballet leaps, the performers showcased a range of skill from all types of dance.

During the second movement, four of the male dancers lept into the air, achieing amazing height, and arched their backs to create a crescent moon shape.

During the third movement's umbrella dance, each company member showcased their agility as they sashayed across the stage twirling umbrellas with at least three foot long handles.

While the story of the man's journey into death may not have translated, the skill and talent of this company certainly did.