Troupe rises above eviction
When Scott Wells’ eponymous dance company turned 25 last year, he didn’t get a traditional silver keepsake. He got a good old-fashioned Ellis Act eviction from Dance Ground Keriac, the company’s home at Divisadero and Bush streets since 1992.
By way of a silver lining, he titled Scott Wells and Dancers’ new season “On the Occasion of Our 25th Anniversary (and Eviction), Kathleen Hermesdorf and Scott Wells Ask, Was That Good for You?” Opening Friday, Dec. 1, at Dance Mission Theater, the 70-minute show includes two high-concept, theatrical and sometimes mind-blowingly acrobatic works, rehearsed at Wells’ new artistic base, CounterPulse.
“Ballistic2” entails bouncing and unpredictable Physioballs and won a 2010 Izzie Award, Wells’ second. Last performed two decades ago, “Was That Good for You?” reunites Wells with co-founder and former fiancee Hermesdorf. They moved to San Francisco together after earning MFAs in dance at the University of Illinois; she went on to dance with Contraband and Margaret Jenkins and became a much-admired modern-dance teacher.
It’s a rare performance for Wells, now 59 and a father of two with his wife, Ilka Szilagyi. “Partly it’s just vanity,” he says, laughing as usual. “I just think everybody else looks so much better than me!” Sitting at a sunny table in his Berkeley home, he applied his wry wit to life and art, past and present. Q: What’s in the DanceGround space now? A: I’m afraid to go look. But I’ve heard it’s a Pilates-meetsspin-cycling thing. Q: A lot happened in that space over the years. A: In 1992, Kathleen and I moved out here to start our dance career. Keriac (the master tenant) was offering rehearsal space in exchange for painting, so we did that. And then she asked, “Would you guys like to move in?” Kathleen and I broke up about a year later. I stayed — I moved into the lighting booth. My rent was $225. I got married in 2004, and Ilka and I stayed in DanceGround for several years. Q: It’s kind of amazing to find someone who will move into a light booth with you. A: (laughs) When Ilka moved in, we took over one of the bedrooms. Q: You and Kathleen are reuniting for this show. A: It’s a fascinating thing to reconnect with her: What’s an old love? When did we break up? What are the things we don’t remember? Sebastian (Grubb) and Virginia (Broyles) are embracing the full physicality (of the original choreography). I gave him a little text about “Imagine when we’re their age: What do you think it will be like?” She says back, “So your goal is to be an old dancer?” I could see in their minds: Who can even think that far ahead? Q: You’re also restaging “Ballistic2.”
A: There’s going to be this longer ending, kind of chaotic. I have this idea of sitting on a Physioball while it’s being deflated — I want to undercut this idea of celebration. I want some honesty! (laughs) We’ll see how that imagery works out. Q: Your work has included balance beams, parkour obstacles, contact improvisation, skateboarding, boxing. Where do you get your ideas? A: When I was an undergrad at Santa Cruz … I loved to make up stuff in the drama studio, because there was all this stuff around, like chairs — I always wanted something to physically interact with. It’s the same with contact improv. I don’t know if I’m looking for meaning, or if I’m just really engaged with the physical interaction. Does it mean something if I’m sitting on a Physioball that’s deflating? I’m interested in the way we think about things, and our expectations, and playing with that. Q: You’re certainly playing with how daring your dancers are willing to be. Do they have to sign special liability waivers? A: (laughs) Somewhere in the 2000s, I started getting people who could do stuff I could never have done. It’s a question of, when does amazing become art? I want people to be like, “What happened?”