2006-05-26- Anne Frank
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Soul of a Young Girl...Dances of
Anne Frank
is emotional, evocative Eveoke production
jewishsightseeing.com, May 26, 2006
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2006-05-26- Anne Frank |
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By Linda Cohen SAN DIEGO, Calif.—“Jews are forbidden to…” followed by a recitation of a long list of prohibitions signaled the beginning of the end for Anne Frank’s family and the others just before they went into hiding, locked away in the Secret Annex. The thoughts, feelings and reactions experienced by the eight people sharing these tight quarters are transferred by the Eveoke Dance Theatre to the stage through a powerful dance/theatre piece, Soul of a Girl... Dances of Anne Frank choreographed by Gina Angelique. In a production that will run through June 4 at the Tenth Avenue Theatre, the movement technique is mostly modern, but includes a large body of pedestrian movement as well.  The
members of Evoeke Dance Theatre dance out the words and feelings of Anne Frank
(Yvonne Hernandez) straight from the words of her famous diary, (recorded by
Paula Present). Once inside the Secret Annex, where their fates seem to be one, the hidden Jews weld themselves into a human pyramid sculpture—a formation that has become the piece's signature since its debut ten years ago. It has been five years since this project was last presented as part of the San Diego Jewish Arts Festival. The current presentation includes two male dancers, Doug Johnson as Anne's daddy, Otto Frank, and Anthony Rodriguez as Peter Van Daan. Besides these, Anne's attic-mates are her mother (Erika Malone); her sister Margot (Djuna Passman); Peter's mother (Araceli Carrera) and father (Nikki Dunnan), and Mr. Dussel (Ericka Aisha Moore). Pieces of cloth that resembling black shrouds are used in interesting ways to signify people hiding in various positions and angles. The costumes are dull, tattered and period, circa 1940’s. In one scene the pent-up adults quarrel, expressing their frustration with each other with increasingly agitated gestures and movement around the low table where they had been seated. Eventually, the action moves to the wood slat walls, which they literally climb. The same wood slats were used to build a large crate which for Anne is a hideout within a hideout, the place where she can write her famous diary. The living conditions of the eight people in hiding are vividly brought to life in this three-act production through the spoken words from the diary, movement, acting and the music of the Kronos Quartet. The suspense of the nights is felt as the refugees attempt to fall asleep together under one long cloth stretched out the length of the stage. Peaceful sleep gives way to nightmares. “There are those who wait for death,” Anne's diary informs us. As these words are spoken a frightening figure (Charlene Penner), with a shaved head, white faced, wearing tattered cloth, with an affected posture, comes slithering, slinking across the stage, in slow motion. Is this the death they are all waiting for? Is this the nightmare that visits nightly? Anne’s father, Otto, whom Anne calls "Pim," climbs a wall and the death creature overtakes him. After a struggle, Otto slides under death and down to safety.. Act Two opens with a mundane task of the day: potato peeling. How could this be made to look so delightful? Real potatoes are passed, tossed, fought over, played with, used to tickle, thrown…suddenly, these activities are interrupted by screeching noises. Rapid, wrenching movements express the gripping, trembling fear of being caught, with no place to go, in an air raid. As Anne tells her diary what each person’s first wish would be if ever allowed to go outside again, they, in turn, dance their desires: a hot bath, a movie, a cup of coffee, a visit. But for herself she says, “…and I, I don’t know where to start.” Her father, meanwhile, is suspended on the wall. The recurring screeching air raids bring the death figure, an abstraction of Anne's friend, Lies, who was sent to a concentration camp. While approaching Anne, death cries unintelligible words, Anne, responding, begins crying, shivering, facing her greatest fears. Is her mind playing tricks when her loved ones collapse on the floor, as if shot down, one by one? Is death summoning her? Anne fights it off, grunting, running, leaping. Death attempts to drag her away, but Anne's father is able to escort death out the door. In this scene, potatoes are strewn all over the stage. Death’s voice is wailing, crying. And so the second act ends, but the audience does not know when or if to applaud. Maybe they are too stunned, or believe applause would be inappropriate. So they sit and wait— like the people trapped in the Secret Annex. Act Three begins with Anne experiencing the transformation of her body, her coming of age. Proud of this, she longs for young Peter. She begins to fall in love, (or lust) with him, and her openness to experimentation causes tension in the tight quarters. The death figure comes creeping down through the audience, (startling this reviewer!) Death's slow- motion movements are juxtaposed with scurrying movements of all the others onstage. The dancers huddle together in a protective stance. In powerful imagery, death maintains a constant watch on the hidden Jews Intensely physical movements give form to their anguish. The vocalizations of the dancers:—grunts, breathing, groans, gasps, shouting, crying—echo in this small black box theatre. The faces of the dancers often contort in fear as, all the while, death patiently watches and waits.. In contrast, the hidden Jews writhe, roll and tremble, seizure-like. They climb the walls, shrieking. Are these the inner feelings they dared not vocalize lest the Nazis hear them? During this time, Anne attempts to drag the oversized crate downstage. It finally lands on-top of her, completely covering her body. She begins peering out between the slats, as if in jail. “I want to go on living even after death…and G-d has given me a gift to express myself,” her diary tells us. This stunning performance is an extension of Anne's now immortal diary, a performance enabling us to experience her fears, joys, hopes and dreams. “After the war is a castle on a cloud," Anne tells her diary. If only it were so... Linda Cohen is a San Diego-based dance educator. |
