DANCES OF INNOCENCE AND DESIRE
Bartoszek’s work demands a certain open-mindedness from the observer, a willingness to let go of preconceived notions and simply let the images unfold as they will. It’s not emotionally powerful stuff like Robin Lakes’s. It’s not technically dazzling like Hubbard Street’s. In Sweet Baby, Baby Suite, which premiered at the Dance Center of Columbia College, Bartoszek conjures up the gentle, delightful, and sometimes fearful feelings that come with early motherhood. In the first few moments she creates a fresh, fascinating reality, using simply the sound of crickets chirping, a dimly lit stage, three dancers, and a plastic doll.
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Waltz #3 is the result of a collaboration between Bartoszek, poet and performance artist Lynn Book, and composer David Pavkovic. It explores the constraints society imposes on relationships, using the waltz as a metaphor. Six dancers (Amy Alt, Fishella, Kammin, Todd Michael Kiech, Rossen, and Sheldon B. Smith) both pair up and dance alone, never really waltzing, just leaning against each other or sliding down one another’s backs.
