DEEP WATER: THE MURDER BALLADS
Choreography by E. E. Balcos
Music by John Allemeier
Folk Songs performed by Riley Baugus
UNC Charlotte - College of Arts + Architecture
Knight Theater
May 31, 2013
We are fascinated by tales of twisted, over-heated passions and their sometimes violent resolutions. Many people have at one time or another been subject to out-of-control emotions and the irrational feelings they spawn, not to mention what actions may follow. Is it any wonder that recently the nation, actually the world, has been obsessed with the Jodi Arias case where one lover killed the other?
Love and hate become entwined in a dance of life and death. History shows us this is not a new phenomenon. "Murder Ballads" about cases of love gone wrong in the extreme have been around and passed down generation to generation in the oral tradition of folk songs. UNC Charlotte brought three of them from North Carolina to life on stage at the Knight Theater on Friday night. Deep Water: The Murder Ballads, a creative melding of story, dance, and music, gives us another look at some of these old intriguing tales of misplaced love, or lust, or selfishness, or greed. The truth is mostly there, but it's difficult to be completely sure as history leaves room for interpretation, even as the stories have been embellished over the years. Researching the stories it is clear there are a number of variations on each of the three murder ballads presented.
Before each dance well-known folk singer and North Carolina native Riley Baugus, who is on the sound track of the movie Cold Mountain, and albums by Allison Krauss, Robert Plant, and Willie Nelson, gave us some history of the ballad, and sang the mostly mournful songs for the audience. He performed "Poor Ellen Smith", "Frankie Silver", and "Little Omie Wise".
The inspired choreography by E.E. Balcos, Associate Professor of Dance at UNC Charlotte, in each piece pays homage to the times, and especially to the everyday, hard-working North Carolinians of the 1800s. His distinctive dance interpretations give you a sense of time and place even as you sit watching the bare stage at the Knight Theater. The lifts performed are strikingly effective, not just male lifting female, but female lifting female, and male lifting male. The ensemble work of the dancers is admirable as well, with four in each piece, performing some arresting tableaux. Each dancer separately, and together, contributes to the overall program.
Composer John Allemeier, Associate Professor of Composition at UNC Charlotte, provides the music using different instruments to dominate giving each original piece a specific mood. The ability to work closely, and be flexible, with choreographer Balcos creates a unique ability to help shape the program. Credit also to the musicians: Scott Christian (timpani and percussion), Tomoko Deguchi (piano), Chris Fensom (trumpet), Erinn Frechette (piccolo/flute), Mira Frisch (cello), Sakira Harley (violin), Reese Manceaux (saxophone), Shawn Smith (conductor), John Sadak (clarinet), Kirsten Swanson (viola), and Jenny Topilow (violin).
The first dance Poor Ellen is about a teenage hotel worker at the Zinzendorf Hotel named Ellen Smith who became involved with a ner-do-well ladies man named Peter DeGraff, age 22. This ballad is well known to this day in the Winston-Salem area where it took place in 1892. Ellen was found shot through the heart in the woods behind the hotel, a note still in her pocket from DeGraff asking her to meet him there. Ellen (Audrey Ipapo Baran, delicate and graceful) and co-workers/friends (Tai Dorn and Melissa Jesse), are shown cleaning and scrubbing, socializing and occasionally stomping as though out dancing, along with her moments of excitement rushing off to clandestine meetings with DeGraff (E.E. Balcos, dynamic and precise). The connection between Ellen and DeGraff is visceral even as it flows, making it all the more poignant for poor Ellen. The music underscoring this dance combines the strings of violin, viola and cello invoking Appalachian themes.
Pieces of Silver is the next dance about a jealous teenage wife named Frances "Frankie" Silver (Tracie Foster Chan, elegant and radiant) who in 1833 in Burke county murdered her husband Charlie (Shane Lucas, muscular and charismatic), cut up his body with an axe, distributing some parts in the fireplace and under the floorboards of their house. E.E. Balcos provides interaction with Charlie, as Elizabeth Sturgis does for Frankie, whose facial expressions and movements show distain for Charlie. Uncertainty exists about the motive as Frankie and others claimed she was physically abused by her husband, but she was hanged for his murder anyway. The musical accompaniment to this piece added tonal complexities with flute and clarinet as well as percussion elements.
The final piece is Deep Water about Naomi "Omie" Wise (Tai Dorn, lively and expressive) who was killed in Randolph county. The ballad tells us that she was seduced and abandoned by her lover Jonathan Lewis (E.E. Balcos) who drowned her in the Deep River when he learned of her pregnancy. Again, there is conflicting information about the facts, but Lewis escaped before his trial, was eventually caught, tried, and acquitted of her murder. Audrey Ipapo Baran adds support as does Melissa Jesse who adds spirited movement here. It is said that Lewis confessed on his death bed, but even that is in contention. Lovely choreography of the dancers sliding across the stage on their backs cleverly suggests the sense of movement in water, while intermittent movements provide the aspect of drowning. The music during this piece seemed the most contemporary and complex, adding piano, saxophone, flugelhorn, trumpet and timpani to the mix.
Overall, this was an excellent example of combining separate artistic elements to create something innovative, something more expansive, that enhances the production more than the separate parts could bring alone to an audience. Obviously much work and great care had been put into this production, and it showed. I hope we see more programs like this from UNC Charlotte.
Review by Ann Marie Oliva
Arts a la Mode, June 3, 2013
Choreography by E. E. Balcos
Music by John Allemeier
Folk Songs performed by Riley Baugus
UNC Charlotte - College of Arts + Architecture
Knight Theater
May 31, 2013
We are fascinated by tales of twisted, over-heated passions and their sometimes violent resolutions. Many people have at one time or another been subject to out-of-control emotions and the irrational feelings they spawn, not to mention what actions may follow. Is it any wonder that recently the nation, actually the world, has been obsessed with the Jodi Arias case where one lover killed the other?
Love and hate become entwined in a dance of life and death. History shows us this is not a new phenomenon. "Murder Ballads" about cases of love gone wrong in the extreme have been around and passed down generation to generation in the oral tradition of folk songs. UNC Charlotte brought three of them from North Carolina to life on stage at the Knight Theater on Friday night. Deep Water: The Murder Ballads, a creative melding of story, dance, and music, gives us another look at some of these old intriguing tales of misplaced love, or lust, or selfishness, or greed. The truth is mostly there, but it's difficult to be completely sure as history leaves room for interpretation, even as the stories have been embellished over the years. Researching the stories it is clear there are a number of variations on each of the three murder ballads presented.
Before each dance well-known folk singer and North Carolina native Riley Baugus, who is on the sound track of the movie Cold Mountain, and albums by Allison Krauss, Robert Plant, and Willie Nelson, gave us some history of the ballad, and sang the mostly mournful songs for the audience. He performed "Poor Ellen Smith", "Frankie Silver", and "Little Omie Wise".
The inspired choreography by E.E. Balcos, Associate Professor of Dance at UNC Charlotte, in each piece pays homage to the times, and especially to the everyday, hard-working North Carolinians of the 1800s. His distinctive dance interpretations give you a sense of time and place even as you sit watching the bare stage at the Knight Theater. The lifts performed are strikingly effective, not just male lifting female, but female lifting female, and male lifting male. The ensemble work of the dancers is admirable as well, with four in each piece, performing some arresting tableaux. Each dancer separately, and together, contributes to the overall program.
Composer John Allemeier, Associate Professor of Composition at UNC Charlotte, provides the music using different instruments to dominate giving each original piece a specific mood. The ability to work closely, and be flexible, with choreographer Balcos creates a unique ability to help shape the program. Credit also to the musicians: Scott Christian (timpani and percussion), Tomoko Deguchi (piano), Chris Fensom (trumpet), Erinn Frechette (piccolo/flute), Mira Frisch (cello), Sakira Harley (violin), Reese Manceaux (saxophone), Shawn Smith (conductor), John Sadak (clarinet), Kirsten Swanson (viola), and Jenny Topilow (violin).
The first dance Poor Ellen is about a teenage hotel worker at the Zinzendorf Hotel named Ellen Smith who became involved with a ner-do-well ladies man named Peter DeGraff, age 22. This ballad is well known to this day in the Winston-Salem area where it took place in 1892. Ellen was found shot through the heart in the woods behind the hotel, a note still in her pocket from DeGraff asking her to meet him there. Ellen (Audrey Ipapo Baran, delicate and graceful) and co-workers/friends (Tai Dorn and Melissa Jesse), are shown cleaning and scrubbing, socializing and occasionally stomping as though out dancing, along with her moments of excitement rushing off to clandestine meetings with DeGraff (E.E. Balcos, dynamic and precise). The connection between Ellen and DeGraff is visceral even as it flows, making it all the more poignant for poor Ellen. The music underscoring this dance combines the strings of violin, viola and cello invoking Appalachian themes.
Pieces of Silver is the next dance about a jealous teenage wife named Frances "Frankie" Silver (Tracie Foster Chan, elegant and radiant) who in 1833 in Burke county murdered her husband Charlie (Shane Lucas, muscular and charismatic), cut up his body with an axe, distributing some parts in the fireplace and under the floorboards of their house. E.E. Balcos provides interaction with Charlie, as Elizabeth Sturgis does for Frankie, whose facial expressions and movements show distain for Charlie. Uncertainty exists about the motive as Frankie and others claimed she was physically abused by her husband, but she was hanged for his murder anyway. The musical accompaniment to this piece added tonal complexities with flute and clarinet as well as percussion elements.
The final piece is Deep Water about Naomi "Omie" Wise (Tai Dorn, lively and expressive) who was killed in Randolph county. The ballad tells us that she was seduced and abandoned by her lover Jonathan Lewis (E.E. Balcos) who drowned her in the Deep River when he learned of her pregnancy. Again, there is conflicting information about the facts, but Lewis escaped before his trial, was eventually caught, tried, and acquitted of her murder. Audrey Ipapo Baran adds support as does Melissa Jesse who adds spirited movement here. It is said that Lewis confessed on his death bed, but even that is in contention. Lovely choreography of the dancers sliding across the stage on their backs cleverly suggests the sense of movement in water, while intermittent movements provide the aspect of drowning. The music during this piece seemed the most contemporary and complex, adding piano, saxophone, flugelhorn, trumpet and timpani to the mix.
Overall, this was an excellent example of combining separate artistic elements to create something innovative, something more expansive, that enhances the production more than the separate parts could bring alone to an audience. Obviously much work and great care had been put into this production, and it showed. I hope we see more programs like this from UNC Charlotte.
Review by Ann Marie Oliva
Arts a la Mode, June 3, 2013