Restless Revelers in Seattle.

Wade Madsen and Dancers
Broadway Performance Hall
Seattle, Washington
September 5-8, 2002

Wade Madsen's newest works, Don's Party and In Search of Dulcinea, show what it means to be human, employing themes and text from Cervantes's Don Quixote. In Don's Party, Madsen uses Cervantes's prose as the point of departure for a surrealistic 1960s cocktail soiree. The piece features dancers in bouffant Barbie-doll coiffures and '60s style wardrobes engaging in meandering conversations, as well as a period living room, complete with wet bar and candlelight, which the audience actually applauded. No postmodern overtones here; this is a set that actually localizes the dancers. Moving to a medley ranging from Pachelbel to jazz artist Bill Evans, Madsen (as Don) reflected on others' journeys as well as his own. His partner, played by Alison Cockrill, managed better as a party hostess than as a Dulcinea muse. She, like most of the other eight partygoers, experienced little transformation throughout the piece.

The party conversation (as a voiceover) proceeded at a steady pace. As the dancers mouthed the words, one could hear their breath, almost as two voices. This cocktail party was like the prose itself--full of animated wondering and wandering, in verse, metaphor, and proverb. Dancers shared movement motifs, and some dancers managed to isolate themselves for a little social dancing to party music that set the tone for this sleek piece.

The emotional In Search of Dulcinea was a healthy counter to the more detached Don's Party. The nine dancers--Madsen as Quixote and the others as some manifestation of Sancho Panza--moved tentatively in a pack to the foreboding music of Henryk Gorecki, huddling together, showing signs of both fear and hope for whatever the future might hold. The stage appeared dark and cold as the performers, in loose-fitting clothes, tried to peer through their glasses and dance with increasing confidence. The dancers moved in ellipses, undulating to the somber string music, occasionally breaking away from the pack with a dramatic shoulder circle. Sometimes a single dancer swept across the stage as the music built to a dramatic crescendo.

Madsen's movement developed the idea of journeying, and the tension in the search was resolved only briefly when a brave soul broke from the group, inevitably returning, perhaps fearful that he or she might indeed find this Dulcinea, who wouldn't compare favorably to the ultimate woman (or man) of his or her dreams.

Madsen made good use of the burgeoning dance talent in Seattle and showed that his dancers can act, with tremendous focus, as well as move. In his work, he showed his talent for highlighting the vulnerability of the human character--be it embarrassingly inane (in Party) or tragically beautiful (in Dulcinea). In both pieces, the characters ended up back in the same place they began--still searching, and trying to find their way in the world where perhaps no ideal destination is possible.