STEVE PISANO
Camille A. Brown & Dancers presented “I AM” at Montclair State University, Feb. 12.
Celebrating the culture of the African diaspora, the hip-hop revue “I AM,” which Camille A. Brown & Dancers performed on Feb. 12 as part of the Peak Performances series at Montclair State University’s Kasser Theater, features African-American movement styles from breakdancing to dapping. Though it reflects a communal identity, the piece also feels personal, however. Intimate vignettes allow cast members to emote, and Brown’s expressive performers radiate soulfulness while moving with terrific energy.
Dancers in “I AM.”
With a trio of musicians directed by Juliette Jones channeling R&B standards, “I AM” arrives slickly packaged in a digital setting by David L. Arsenault, who decorates the stage with space-age lighting effects and neon geometry. This show has an upbeat vibe, and meets its enthusiastic audience more than halfway.
Kai Irby and Nya Cymone Carter open the piece, the two women attracting our attention first with stillness, and then by breaking into rapid-fire moves. Other dancers begin to emerge from the darkness upstage, to which they also retreat, and the symmetry of the leading women, together with the forward-and-back path of the ensemble, creates a frame for boldly articulated bodies. The women prance and shiver, pump their shoulders and toss their heads. Irby and Carter exult in their physicality, and their speed is dazzling. Above them, on the video screen, we see electronic star-bursts and circling rays of light.
Later segments begin to explore emotional terrain, without telling specific stories. Lanky Dorse Brown covers his face as he enters. He makes his hands into fists, then slowly turns his palms outward as if showing us he has nothing to hide. Later he unearths something on the ground and covers it with his hand. His solo is loose and precarious as he folds himself down to the floor, reaches up on tip-toe, and struggles to balance. At the end, he holds something cupped gently in his hands, like a captured butterfly, which he chooses to release.
Alain “Hurricane” Lauture has a sunnier personality, blowing kisses and embracing himself. His solo is a dodgy and evasive affair. When Brown returns, the men compete playfully, achieving unity and somersaulting out together. Jayah “Mooshi” Gomez appears with her own fan club, two men who salute her with languid gestures as she saunters downstage swiveling her hips, and shows off brisk or sinuous moves. Travon Williams is similarly fabulous, striking poses like a runway model.
CHRISTOPHER DUGGAN
Courtney Ross and Brianna Dawkins in “I AM.”
Other vignettes imply journeys in which individuals struggle and find support in friendships or in community. Members of this group may take time out to applaud the others. Or the whole crew may intervene, laying hands on a dazed Chaz Ryan and clapping to encourage him as he seems to recover and gather strength. Brianna Dawkins and Courtney Ross skitter in place and pause dejectedly, crouching or standing with heads hanging down. Yet these two women rise again, and find sympathy and joy holding hands and leaning into each other.
Courtney Cook is a magnetic soloist, who fights her own battles. While the digital backdrop frames her between banks of lowering clouds, bathes her in orange light, or signals her triumph over adversity with the image of a molten sun, she tosses her long braids fiercely and punches her way through despair. She stumbles and falls, skitters backward, then returns to the attack.
“You are not in a prison — name yourself,” a voiceover intones. Eventually, she, too, finds peace, releasing the unnamed trouble cupped between her hands, and another cast member emerges to congratulate her with a hug.
The show concludes with another lively ensemble, showcasing all the dancers in turn, and leaving them pointing at the words, “I Am,” projected above them. While this ending seems a tad commercial, Brown’s sensitive choreography has made it clear that we are not just applauding a brand name, but the resilience of the human spirit.
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