towards / traverse / terrain

Choreography :	John Utans
Lighting devised by :	John Utans
Music :	Susan Hawkins
Performed by :	The Milwaukee Ballet Company

Awarded First Prize
'Genesis' - International Choreography Competition.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA. March 2002.

A piece that explores notions of travel. Shifting relationships and perspective's both of the landscape and the encountered body...

'Towards' dance has winning density'
By TOM STRINI
Journal Sentinel dance critic. Milwaukee

March 21, 2002
John Utans' "Towards/Traverse/Terrain," with Matt Bruno, Jennifer Miller, Melissa Watson, Candice Thompson, Karisa Stich, Adam McKinney and Kuan-Lin Fan, music by Susan Hawkins.

It seems so austere, with the industrial lighting and Hawkins' intermittent gonging. The gnarly dancing happens as much at the edges of the frame as at the center, and it refuses to move to anything like a climax. But when you focus in, you see just how dense and intensely physical the action is. And as the dance unfolds, the structural links between those seemingly random movements assert themselves. It's fascinating, but this is a dance for the connoisseur, or at least a viewer with a hardworking eye. It's all about connecting the dots.

OnMilwaukee.com
05:02 a.m. March 25, 2002
"Genesis" showcases quartet of talented choreographers
By Catherine Jozwik

Australian choreographer John Utans followed with "Towards/Traverse/Terrain/," which consisted of contemporary piano music composed by Susan Hawkins, periods of dead silence with only footwork to set the tone, and contradictory dance moves. Sometimes slow and languid, other times up-tempo, the piece suggested intimate romanticism as well as a strong presence of bitterness and jealousy.
While the men frequently danced alone, the women would watch longingly. Other times, couples would dance closely, although not exactly with each other.