Phillyist Goes to the Festival: 8: Daniele Strawmyre and Jaamil Olawale Kosoko

 
Among the many headliners of Live Arts this year, the 8 series stands apart its laser sharp intention to showcase young, bold, and local talent. Featuring eight rising Philadelphian choreographers presenting in random pairings, it provides a great opportunity to see the breadth of what Philadelphia studios are up to these days. Friday's presentation of Daniele Strawmyre's Kaidan and Jaamil Olawale Kosoko's Or Maybe My Mother was an American Chameleon? puts that range front and center with two very different takes on ghosts, cultural icons, and women dropping dead on the floor.
Or Maybe My Mother was an American Chameleon?
Jaamil Kosoko has been doing some soul-searching lately and, it seems, what's coming up is equal parts hilarious and frightening. Drawing on both on personal experience and issues of American identity, the piece fluctuates between the intense and the absurd. Its four dancers did a good job of keeping the energy up throughout, fighting, flying and flailing through a loose plot of (cultural?) possession.
The talented Shannon Murphy stole the show. She stalked the stage heavily at times, as if daring the other dancers to approach her and at others teased the boys with sure, effortless pointes and pliés. The soundtrack was also of note. The show started with a karaoke version of Laura Branigan's "Gloria" and ended powerfully with a spoken word piece transitioning into Ray Charles's "America." All this against a floor to ceiling projection of juxtaposed pop cultural images, appearing without pause and in a sequence both random and purposeful. While scattered at times and hard to pin down, Jaamil's piece was without a doubt emotionally arresting. It made for a lightening fast half hour and endless analyzation for those with an open mind.
Festival rating: Scattered and raw, but worth a look.
By Warren Longmire