Chimera Project – Malgorzata Nowacka's The Hidden Spot

by Paula Citron.
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The Hidden Spot
Chimera Project
Choreographed by Malgorzata Nowacka
Performed by Amy Hampton, Louis Laberge-Côté, Anisa Tejpar, Dan Wild, Brendan Wyatt, and Nowacka
Enwave Theatre until Saturday
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Choreographer Malgorzata Nowacka could have remained locked in the past because her slash and burn approach to dancemaking has earned her rave reviews. Instead, she has put aside assured success, and has gone fearlessly into new territory. Her new work, The Hidden Spot, while not perfect, is absolutely compelling.

The Hidden Spot is the grown-up sister to the violent anger and painful sense of loss of Nowacka’s earlier works. These aspects are still in the new piece, but they are encased within a more thoughtful choreographic language.

Nowacka’s theme is searching for personal faith in a faithless age. The choreographer tells us this in her program notes. She thus directs us in how we should view the choreography. The actual struggles in which the dancers engage are metaphors for the struggle for the soul. The erotic conflicts that rage throughout the piece performed by her magnificent dancers are Nowacka’s medium to the message.

(photo credit: Malgorzata Nowacka in The Hidden Spot, by Ella Cooper.