41 Times

Choreography and direction: Stefanie Batten Bland with company dancers

“Please note percussive ‘shot’ sounds are integrated into the performance’s live sound score.”

Crumpled paper, discarded ideas, disposable- apply these concepts to human beings and it both hurts and makes sense in such a grim way. What I interpreted from the beginning of 41 Times was a comment on how black bodies are treated as expendable in today’s society. When a person is murdered and the offender walks free, what does that say about the victim? I felt the answer to that question was what Stefanie Batten Bland was exploring in this work.

The piece started as a sort of funeral or laying to rest at the foot of the stage. Large brown pieces of paper with chalk murder outlines were passed overhead by the company and crunched into a large pile of similar paper. The process was slow and ritual-like. Some pieces were laid down flat on top of the crumples.

The next series of events involving the paper invoked a sense of mourning, death, anger, and struggle.

The dancers waltzed with the murder outlines. Mourning and remembering.

The lights went dim and the company punched the paper to make such a fast rapping that it sounded like rapid gunfire. Loud tearing. Crescendo of bullets. Death.

Dancers took chalk and dutifully outlined themselves. Proclaiming.

Dancers kicked the torn paper around like children in fall leaves, only more with more turmoil. Destruction and anger.

A soloist struggled with a piece of paper over her face. Others watched as she strained underneath its suffocating grasp. Her movement found breadth but was often twisted inward.

The interactions with the paper I found the most poignant. Other choreography, however danced masterfully, was less impressionable to me.

I was left with a feeling of appreciation; for the dancers and Stefanie... for going on that journey... over and over again in rehearsal... with such dedication during the performance. I continue to feel appreciation towards TU Dance as a whole, for creating a space where topics of race are discussed and performed, for honoring excellence of craft and truth of the individual.