"How many Cubans does it take to make a cup of coffee?" asks dance Prof. Robin Wilson in her new piece, "Negre Con Leche," which begins to touch on the complex questions and issues that surround skin color and social stratification within Cuban society.
With live musical accompaniment, composed by Detroit-based musician Pamela Wise, and steeped in the sounds of traditional son and rumba rhythms, the work exists on many levels. Embracing Cu-ban popular music and dance as well as contemporary dance forms and spoken word, "Negre con Leche" developed out of Wilson's recent trip to Santiago, Cuba, where she immersed herself in Afro-Cuban song, folklore, and dance through the Eleggua project.
Dancer Leyya Tawil described "Negre con Leche" as "a happy party setting, but underlying issues of class exist." Full-skirted and colorful, the seven-member female ensemble, including Wilson, groove to the rhythms, drawing each other close for moments of playful duets of rumba and salsa in between staged coffee breaks. The dancers indulgently sip from mugs and describe just how they like their perfect cup of coffee.
Much of the movement in "Negre Con Leche" evolved out of the dancers' improvisations. Wilson, who wanted the input of her dancers, explained her choreographic role as shaping and structuring this improvised movement.
The idea of mixing forms of dance propels the theme of Wilson's performance, "Pieces at the Intersection." Not only does she touch on what happens when Africanisms intersect with Westernisms and the effect this has on the Diaspora, Wilson plays with intersections of music, movement and breath.
While "Negre Con Leche" takes a more traditional approach in combining music and dance, and concentrates on issues deeper and more serious than just sound and music, Wilson's other piece of the evening, "Soundsketches," is purely about jazz music and how the four dancers interact with it.
Dancers play off instruments. Instruments create sounds from dancers' breaths and noises. Like the live jazz musicians, the dancers get the opportunity to improvise as soloists. Reveling in spontaneous, uninhibited movement, Wilson's solo may dialogue with the bass one night and the piano the next. Everything is uncertain and only becomes clear in the actual moment of performance. Some sections are mapped out, but the majority of the piece exists as a sketch, different every time.
Living up to its name, "Pieces at the Intersection" combines a range of musical and choreographic styles and creates a thought-provoking and hip-shaking evening.