92ndY Dance Performance/Discussion "Where Do We Fit?" Addressing Gender, Sexuality and Race

Today's dance program at the 92ndY was a combination of dance performances & panel discussion by the choreographers/dancers:  "Where do we fit?  Choreographers address Gender, Sexuality and Race."  The 5 works consisted of 4 solo works by the dancer/choreographers:  Chuck Wilt's 'Cadet',  Aimee Rials' 'The Quiet We Keep', Trebien Pollard's 'She Gives Birth to Stone', Pamela Pietro's 'Everything I Thought I Knew but...' and a duet 'Shook' {an excerpt} performed & choreographed by Dominica Greene and Angie Pittman.  Chuck Wilt's 'Cadet' piece & dancing was exceptional for its spatial composition and Wilt's remarkable technical skills and musicality.  Wilt is the artistic dir/choreographer of UNA Projects, a NYC based company.  Wilt has been selected this year as a choreographic fellow for the prestigious Alvin Ailey Dance Fdtn. New Directions Choreography Lab.    I was impressed by his lateral movements, energetic dancing & serene juxtapositions.  Wilt's musicality was impressive as well as his embracing of silence within his piece.  'Cadet' evoked a sense of self-discovery, athleticism and a poignancy of unrequited love.  Wilt was the only choreography to adjust the lighting which added a layered dimension of isolation or dissociation.  While all the works were exemplary, Wilt's piece was extraordinary.  The discussion with all 6 dancers/choreographers following the performance explored their expressions of exclusion, dissociation and disillusionment.  Aimee Rials is currently in residency at the Baryshnikov Arts Center & she is a teacher at the Amer. Acad. of Dramatic Arts.  Rials acted as guest curator for the open conversation.  Given the topic for the program, the connotations for struggles with fitting into a biased & discriminating society was a given for being interrelated to the performances.  Therefore, it was with chagrin that the first Q&A asked the panel to specify what they intended to communicate through their dancing.  Nevertheless, the panel was forthcoming & candid and their answers as eloquent as their physical articulation.  Some of the dancers expressed their trepidations with revealing their sexuality or their struggles with maintaining a forced duality in how they presented themselves.  While all were encouraged with welcomed progressive changes, there still persists a  repression to living their truest selves.  One dancer said his work expressed the grief of a parent losing a child and having to maintain strength to advocate positive change and finding a balance with peace & bereavement.  Another female dancer said her work stemmed from her experiences with sexual harassment, abuse & ageism. The overall general consensus testified to the empowerment & potency dance provides in self-expression, exploration and pleasure.