Scorpius Gets it Right

By Susan Skrzycki

The third season of Scorpius Dance Theatre's "A Vampire Tale," performed recently at the Phoenix Theatre, delivers the classic vampire story we all know and love with a refreshingly edgy style and a healthy dose of ugly beauty. After all, 'tis the season.

When an audience goes to see any event featuring vampires, regardless of the medium, we go expecting to see a familiar plot: A young ingénue with a hankering for the dark side (in this production, Forlorn Girl), meets various irresistible undead beings that help fulfill her fantasy. We know they're eventually going to "get" her, but good. In fact, we'd feel cheated if they didn't at least I would. Director Lisa Starry gave me what I came for and left me gratefully haunted by many favorite moments of a well-crafted experience.

Resembling a film far more than other dance or performance art events, the show is seamless from start to finish with no intermissions or breaks between segments. Like her "Water Dreams" show at the Orpheum Theater in 2002, Starry envelopes her audience in her craft until she's had her way with them, about an hour and fifteen minutes later. With a soundtrack and lighting to die for, the show is visually stunning and often reminded me of my favorite scenes in film noir, the ones I like to watch again and again.

Starry worked closely with local playwright Raymond Shurtz to develop the storyline, characters and script. In past years, the narration was a voiceover layered over the music. This year, the words were spoken live by the Strange Man character (Gregg Temple). I liked this year's spoken word better than the voiceover, but Strange Man was, at times, difficult to hear over the other sound. Fortunately, the audience doesn't need to understand the words to know what's happening in the choreography.

Much of the show's music was composed especially for the show by Ryan Breen, a MetroArts graduate and long-time co-collaborator of Lisa Starry. The original compositions are juxtaposed with a few masterfully re-mixed familiar classics by Beethoven, Schubert and Nine Inch Nails. The music was so well done I wished I had a copy when I left and suggest having the soundtrack available to the audience for purchase in future seasons.

Lisa Starry told me that when she conceived the show over three years ago, her goal was to create a sort of "Nutcracker for Halloween;" the kind of show that becomes a yearly tradition people look forward to each fall. I overheard several audience members say that they'd seen the show many times and they notice something new each time. Having seen the show all three years, I can appreciate how far it's come. Lisa Starry has made significant changes to the show each season, having allowed us to see the work in progress throughout its development. Although the show was good the first year, this year's version is artistically superior. At the end of each season, Starry says there are parts of the production that she's not satisfied with, so she re-works, edits and/or adds new aspects that better satisfy her vision. In this way, Starry works more like a painter or sculptor than most choreographers, allowing us into the studio to see the work in progress. I think this is one of the traits that makes her work unique; Lisa plans to continue to make adaptations to the show in future years.

The curtain first opens only partially to expose the Forlorn Girl (Nancy Miller) standing center stage in a breathtaking pool of light, her tattered dress blowing in the mist as unsettling music surrounds her. The black vertical curtains framing her on each side resemble film letterboxing; an extremely effective image that could fit beautifully into an old Fritz Lang silent film. This opening is far more compelling than the previous versions as it immediately draws the audience in and delicately foreshadows the gorgeous malevolence to come.

Enter, The Watcher (David Starry), a commanding, other-worldly mass of said malevolence with a capital M-A-L-E. He enters quietly and softly, unlike the usual cape-wielding, fang-brandishing male lead in this type of role, he exhibits a tenderness and smoldering sensuality much like Klaus Kinski's character in Nosferatu. The Watcher and Forlorn Girl have a series of beautifully choreographed duets throughout the production, as she gradually surrenders to his raw magnetism and physical power.

The Watcher, however, does the bidding of the Queen of the Klan (Nicole Olsen) who obviously calls the shots in the underworld. This raven-haired, bewitching beauty sets her sights on the Forlorn Girl and from that point on, the Girl is merely prey. The Queen of the Klan orders the rest of the Blood Klan (vampires en mass) to seduce the poor Forlorn Girl through a series of dances they perform expressly for her pleasure/pain.

My favorite of the glimpses into the underworld is the men's trio Lisa Starry refers to as "the fabric piece," appropriately so: three vampire men begin suspended from the ceiling by blood-red lengths of fabric. As the dancers slowly descend, we recognize the beautifully re-mixed Beethoven score that tends to haunt one for days afterward. The choreography is acrobatic and thrilling to watch, and the three bare-chested men are physically complementary as a group, moving through countless picture-perfect moments in space.

Another highlight was the Fellini-esque "dinner scene;" a welcome interlude of bizarre comic relief and non sequitur from all the dark tension and brooding. The pace of the show is well-timed throughout and each section seemed to deliver just enough of its intended effect without belaboring the point.

The Scorpius dancers vary in age, experience and physical appearance, something that makes this group more visually interesting than other dance companies like Center Dance and Arizona Ballet, with all due respect for their talents. Starry carefully selects a group of individuals capable of bringing their own particular flavor to the stew, and she mentors some of the younger dancers, who are often graduates of the Metro-Arts dance program that Starry founded. A number of Starry's former students have also gone on to Cal Arts on scholarship, like Starry herself did in the early 90's.

Through Scorpius Dance Theatre and MetroArts, Lisa Starry has built a notable reputation of leadership in the Arizona arts community through the years but is still one of the most under-rated choreographic talents in the West. Scorpius and "A Vampire Tale" could have a presence in any mature city, and it's exciting to have such an effective voice at home here in downtown Phoenix. This is a show well worth catching each year and a company to watch for in the future.