Description
Totem is a quintet choreographed by Renée Wadleigh in 2003. It is a subtly nuanced dance within a dance that celebrates family and ritual. Five small golden boxes form a wide U along the periphery of the stage, framing the dancers and demarcating the enclosed world of the dance. Set to pounding, enigmatic traditional Aboriginal music that infuses drums and didgeridoo with the totemic sounds of flies and grasshoppers, the dance is as tribal as the soundscape. Wadleigh’s dance is technically rooted, using beautiful extensions, speed, unison, and unique gestural sequences that are compelling to the eye. The interaction of the dancers conjures images of isolation and connection and the viewer is left with a feeling of having glimpsed a powerful ritual as rich as it is mysterious.
A totem- an animal or a natural object considered as being related by blood to a given family or clan and taken as it’s symbol. The dance, in my concept, could be thought of as a family symbol. I also considered it a ritual offering.. something that expresses awe.
-Renee Wadleigh
Production
Choreography: Renée Wadleigh
Music: Traditional
Costumes: Andrea Hennessy
Lighting Design: Margaret L. Nelson
Stage Crew: Pete Gobel, Atalee Judy, and Bob Kuper
Cast
Victor Alexander, Mei-Kuang Chen, Emma Draves, Eric Eatherly, Maray Gutierrez
Performance(s)
Spring Concert 2003
May 8-10 2003
Ruth Page Center for the Arts
Chicago
The Other Dance Festival
October 9-10, 2003
Hamlin Park Fieldhouse
Chicago
Hedwig Reloaded 2003
November 7-8, 2003
Northwestern University
Evanston, IL
Totem…is a surprisingly stately dance suggesting the martial arts (at least in the beginning) set to didgeridoo music, which resembles buzzing insects thrillingly orchestrated.
— Laura Molzahn, Chicago Reader
Special Thanks
TOTEM is dedicated to Renee Wadleigh’s daughter Theo, son-in-law Mike, and first grandchild, Noah, born 2/3/03
