PAST CREATIONS

Sudden death by gun violence. Life or the memory of life is anything but linear. Scenes, events, interactions come back piecemeal, a patchwork with no logical order, no empirical progression. Singly or together, we try to work out how to negotiate sudden yawning craters in the ordinary world, forming a community with others who share in suffering loss.

Wevers has said he believes that random incidents of violence have the capacity to bring individuals and communities together and in “Instantly Bound” he seamlessly melds solo variations, pas de deux and group dances to convey this. The ballet ends with a couple captured in the spotlight on the floor, presumably dead, with the others gathered around them in mourning. It’s a haunting image that beautifully captures the communal coherence that develops in the aftermath of horrific gun violence.

Alice Kaderlan, Seattle PI

With rapid-fire speed, dancers hurtled across the stage, stretching, reaching, and connecting frantically in bursts of partnering, only to flee the unseen violence. Using exaggerated extension through all joints, dancers searched for both escape and meaning.

Charlotte Hart, Seattle Dances

This abstract exploration of the impact of gun violence had some powerful moments. In particular, the middle section features all six dancers moving in unison, shrugging first one shoulder then the other as their feet tap out a repeated rhythm: Ta-da, Ta-da, Ta Ta, a little like a cha cha. They are strangers who’ve come together, reeling from experience: violence, sharing a common beat.

Marcie Sillman, And another thing

Instantly Bound

Whim W’Him Premiere

January 17, 2014
Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center

World Premiere

April 17, 2013
Ballet X

Choreography

Olivier Wevers

Music

Klimek, Ezekiel Honig, Jóhann Jóhannsson

Costumes

Olivier Wevers

Lighting

Michael Mazzola