By KATE DOBBS ARIAIL, CVNC
Durham, NC 6/25/2015
The evening’s final work was a marvelous surprise, and although it utilized spoken texts and songs, it is resistant to wordy explanation. By Shaleigh Comerford and the dancers of her company, with textual assistance from playwright Richard Kirkwood and music written and performed on stage by cellist Isabel Castellvi and pianist Randall Love, Dedicated to [ ] Because of [ ] (and Vice Versa), improbably combines six female dancers in short pale satin gowns with metal folding chairs and – actor Derrick Ivey.
Comerford’s dance language, with its mix of Gaga-style freedom of movement and balletic elegance, is well suited to the complex balance of dance theatre. The ensemble’s rather gorgeous fluidity and sharp repetitions – and their strange actions, both seductive and evasive – encounter Ivey’s massive physicality like ocean waves meeting offshore rock.