Lascilo Perdere

“Lascilo Perdere, which means "leave it alone" in Italian, bears the English subtitle "A Journey of Letting Go." This is a dance about both leaving emotions alone and ultimately letting go of them.

Seven dancers in severe dark costumes by Deanna Berg sat rigidly in stiff-backed chairs. They rose, paced and nervously shifted positions. There was a sense of constriction throughout the work, as well as a sense that these were haunted people, an impression heightened by films by Kevin Freeman that showed shadowy figures mysteriously emerging from and returning to darkness. A woman in one film seemed underwater. In another film, a man pulled a woman out of a refrigerator.

The taped accompaniment included passionate vocal music by Vivaldi and mournful instrumental music by the Cracow Klezmer Band. The choreography to these selections grew increasingly intense as dancers swayed violently and opened their mouths as if to speak. Yet no words were uttered. Everyone seemed possessed by strong feelings or unhappy memories.

Finally, Banning Roberts entered and the tongue-biting duet began. Éric Beauchesne leaned back in a chair and stuck out his tongue. Ms. Roberts bit it and kept biting it. They walked together. They crawled on the floor. He lifted her and sank with her to the ground. All the while, she kept biting him, letting the audience wonder if this duet symbolized the bite of love or of anguish.”

- The New York Times

Pictured: Banning (Roberts) Bouldin and Eric Beauchesne, photo courtesy of Aszure Barton & Artists