Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Day 347 Catapult:The Amazing Magic of Shadow and Dance- Creates an Imaginary Universe



Catapult  tells a story by using dance and body transformation to produce shadow silhouettes of the world. I saw Catapult as a finalist on the Television  show America's Got Talent where Howard Stern called them a “million dollar act.” I was excited to be “catapulted” into their  imaginary  universe where they create dancing shadows of  landscapes, animals, and objects by only using the human body and a few props.




Reflection
It’s hard for me to resist the  urge to play in the path of a light beam  and make hand shadows. My skills however are limited to creating a hopping bunny or butterfly that I often used to entertain my son during his childhood years. 

Catapult puts shadows on steroids.  Eight dancers moving behind a screen morphed into a continuous wave of images. Opening with the classical sound of Antonio Vivaldi, the dancers took us on a ride through the “Four Seasons.” Bodies formed: tulips, caterpillars and  frogs (spring), swimmers, a huge jelly fish  and other ocean creatures (summer),  jack o’ lanterns and falling leaves (autumn) snowflakes and ice-skaters (winter).  They amazed as they held the images for a few seconds and then gracefully broke away revealing how the human body formed the scene.  This produced frequent low humming audience “ah” (watch here).

The motion was non- stop in the humorous  piece “Spy” which was danced to jazz and hip hop. “Spy” projected the story of a  house wife by day who lived the double life of  an agent encountering fights, car chases and other danger.  


The silhouettes were reversed in “Angel Heart.” Dancers moved in front of the screen and were outlined in waves of light producing a psychedelic effect. 

My favorite was “Travel” that took off with a plane ride to the Middle East, Egypt, Paris’ Eiffel Tower and ended with a rocket to the moon.  “Encore,” concluded the first half of the show with a fast paced collage of prior danced images causing outbursts of audience applause.


A narrated fairy tale encompassed the second half. “Mouzart” introduced Mozart as a child prodigy, his genius sister and a musical mouse. Although creative, it seemed to drag following the hyped motion of the first half. "Mouzart " might have been better suited as a stand- a- lone piece  and would be especially delightful for children.

Catapult does just that, hurls you through an imaginary world of shadow dance.  It gives adults a feeling of elation  and surprise like a child seeing something for the first time. It's a playful and lighthearted diverse universe of dance and shadows that makes you laugh, tells a story and amazes. 

( "Catapult:The Amazing Magic of Shadow and Dance" was part of  the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's assorted entertainment programs of music, comedy and dance offered in the 2019-2020 season of the Cohen & Grigsby Trust Presents Series. For more on this series go here.)

Spiritual Reflection
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Philippians 4:8)

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