Review: Dancers move with buoyancy and fluidity in ‘Wave’ at Southern Theater

A performance over the weekend served as a reminder that the Southern Theater is truly a Twin Cities gem, especially for dance.

Built around 1910, the theater featured vaudeville shows and cinema in its early days, and boasted a magnificent proscenium arch. The arch remains the Southern’s most attractive feature, while its architectural idiosyncrasies layered onto the space from its various transformations over more than a century add to its charm.

The space has grandeur, and a sense of mystery. You feel like you’re entering ruins from an earlier time as you make your way to your seat. The most successful productions at the Minneapolis theater lean into the possibilities of its unique setup. Choreographer Alexandra Eady seemed to understand this, and showcased a work that took advantage of the Southern’s strange structure.

Formerly a company member with Ananya Dance Theatre, Eady developed “Wave” in part in ADT’s NextGen ChoreoLab, which offers mentorship to people of color, as well as a dance residency at Art Omi, an arts center in New York. “Wave” held promise of what Eady will have up her sleeve in years to come. In recent years, Southern has been a great venue to see works by up-and-coming choreographers, and Eady joins the list.

Much of the piece took place in front of the proscenium arch, where seven dancers rippled and undulated like water. At times the strong cast of dancers moved together to a score that blended ocean sounds with pulsating percussion, chaotic strings and a hint of jazz.

At other moments, the focus would be on a dancer or two. Eady performed an engrossing, expansive solo that accentuated her charismatic stage presence and carried with it a sense of ritual. Laura Osterhaus, who has presented works as a choreographer at the Southern, also danced a solo with specificity and buoyancy. Dancers Desaré Cox, Vy Nguyen, and Asha Rowland stood out in sections that highlighted their movements.

Eady also made great use of the space behind the arch. In the Southern, the proscenium frames that part of the theater, giving it a sense of otherworldliness. Lit beautifully by lighting designer Bevibel Harvey, the dancers floated back and forth between the two sides of the stage like they were water.

In her “Wave,” Eady explored the notion of waves metaphorically. She worked in abstraction, and yet there was clarity in certain imagery evoked along the way. The work seemed to reference the migration of enslaved people across the ocean, supported by gestures like the dancers holding their hands behind their back, and an extended sequence of facial expressions that carried in them trauma and violence.

Eady also seemed to explore the idea of waves as collective action, and the power that comes when people work together. The messaging never seemed heavy-handed. Rather, the meaning seeped through the work in the throbbing beats of the music.