Genome in the News

DANCE: REVIEW

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

A stunning commentary in dancing DNA

PAULA CITRON

September 29, 2007

FEROCIOUS BEAUTY: GENOME

Liz Lerman Dance Exchange

At Premiere Dance Theatre

Once upon a time when there was standardized Grade 13 testing, the most terrifying aspect of the Ontario-wide botany exam was solving the Gregor Mendel genetics problem, which accounted for a good chunk of the final mark. Never during my pre-exam jitters as I agonized over Mendel's damn pea plants and his laws of heredity, did I ever think it possible that the 19th-century Moravian monk, known as the "father of modern genetics," would show up as a character in a dance piece.

In choreographer Liz Lerman's Ferocious Beauty: Genome, Mendel does just that in an astonishing work that masterfully combines science and the arts.

Not surprisingly, the Ontario Genomics Institute has sponsored this visit of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, a company based in Takoma, Md. on the outskirts of Washington.

Ferocious Beauty: Genome is a 1½ hour dance-theatre piece that attempts not only to explain the basic phenomena of genomics, but to raise provocative questions about biotech ethics in general. Against the backdrop of a brilliant series of video projections that includes talking heads and animated graphics, Lerman and her 10-member company have created a witty and moving piece that she classifies as "non-fiction dance."

Genomics is the life science that deals with the study of genomes, which contain the full complement of DNA underlying the genetic makeup of a given organism.

Lerman uses the commentary about genomes by onscreen scientists to inspire choreography in surprising ways.

Mendel (Ted Johnson) is introduced early and becomes the through line. He is also the conscience of the piece, whether battling through his own angst-filled solo of discovery, or in later duets and ensembles where his concern over the ethical direction of genetics research clearly shows. On more than one occasion, his brooding figure merely walks through a scene, reminding us of how science can tread on spirituality and morality.

Some sequences, however, are downright funny. Lerman has asked scientists how they would choreograph the operation of genomes and the dancers act out their instructions. One scientist envisions them always touching head to foot, leading to hilarious limb placements. Others see the genome as a shuffle or an inversion, each with its own very humorous stage picture.

And then there is Miss TATA (Elizabeth Johnson), a TATA-box being a binding protein that kick-starts genes to do their work. Here, she is a leather-garbed dominatrix with a whip. The group dance that is an homage to the lowly fruit fly, "the hero of 20th-century science," is also a hoot.

While much of the piece is very witty, whether in text, dance or projections, much is also very moving. Suzanne Richard performs both in her wheelchair and on crutches. In fact, when Mendel partners her, it graphically brings to mind how having too much of one gene and too little of another can affect the hereditary physical makeup of humans. Similarly, in another scene describing Huntington's disease, the dancers distort their own healthy bodies to emulate the tragic neurological disorder.

Dancer Gesel Mason is also a key figure. She represents the ordinary person, concerned with the here and now, expressing our concerns with personal survival. She also asks the tough philosophical questions, and her solo expresses the bewilderment we all feel at just being alive.

A longer sequence is given over to the folk tale of the man who captures death so his beloved can live, and the resulting horrors this action inflicts on the aged who cannot die.

Lerman has assembled a charismatic company that ranges in age from early 20s to 73. The choreography itself is clear and clean, from the joyous dance of individuality that begins the piece, to the more sombre elements of caution at the end. The production values are first-rate, including Michael Mazzola's clever lighting and Darron L. West's soundscape that matches music and mood beautifully. The costumes are also effective.

This richly textured work shows an imaginative choreographer can create stunning social and scientific commentary. If any work deserves a return visit, it is this one.