On a balmy Friday evening, a crowd of over 2,000 people gathered outside Hangar 25, facing scaffolding and a giant nest. As the sun set, the side of the building lit up and two dancers in brightly colored costumes appeared near the top. A spotlight revealed two musicians in the giant nest.
Mournful, ethereal music floated over the crowd as the two dancers started to slowly spin, each anchored by a cable attached to the scaffolding. Eventually the music picked up into a joyful Latin-infused beat and more dancers appeared on the side of the building, kicking off the opening act of Somewhere to Land: Dances between Sea and a Low Sky.
A collaboration between vertical dance troupe BANDALOOP, West End Arts District, and the City of Alameda, Somewhere to Land was part of the Rising Tides Climate Arts Initiative series, a public art project which brings awareness of climate change and its impact to Alameda.
Tara Pilbrow, the executive director of West End Arts District, reached out to BANDALOOP and invited them to join the series. “The idea of bringing BANDALOOP to perform on Hangar 25 actually predates the Initiative,” she said. “I loved the structure and had a sense that it would make the most incredible ‘stage’ for vertical dance.” Vertical dance uses cables and climbing equipment to stage dance performances on vertical surfaces instead of on a traditional stage.
Another reason Hangar 25 was chosen as a stage is that it will soon be demolished to make way for De-Pave Park. The City of Alameda plans to “de-pave” or remove the concrete and buildings in the area west of Seaplane Lagoon and turn it into a natural wetlands ecological park which can accept the rising sea level. In her introduction to the performance, Alameda Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft stated that “Alameda is at the forefront of accepting climate change” instead of fighting or denying it.
Somewhere to Land addressed the transformation of the former Navy base with a performance that blended themes of post-military presence, birds, and migration. The dance numbers were anchored by a drag queen narrator (Wailana Simcock) who addressed the audience with a spirited Filipino greeting, “Mabuhay!” and casually chatted about migration. “My mother and sister flew over here,” she declared. The spotlight then moved to two dancers who gracefully swung down from the scaffolding like birds softly landing to upbeat Latin rhythms.
In introductory remarks to the audience, director Melecio Estrella explained that the performers—Simcock, Jose Abad, Damara Ganley, Rose Huey, Sarah Keeney, and Jessica Swanson—had come out to the future site of De-Pave Park for a year, “spending time with the birds, plants, animals, and post military landscape.” They wanted to ask how to soften the landscape and welcome tidal flows. “What happens when we de-pave and soften the body?”
These questions inspired by the transition of hard concrete to soft grassy wetlands were reflected in the dancers’ silky flowing costumes, designed by Sara Helen Estrella, and their graceful aerial choreography as they floated back and forth in the air.
In the third act, the dancers were lowered down the scaffolding, their bodies slowly spinning sideways in the air. The dreamlike sequence was set to slow and eerie music, showcasing the dancers as they reached out to each other, twisting and coming together before spinning apart.
Live music was an integral part of the show, as musicians Destani Wolf and Ben Juodvalkis brought an emotional intensity to the performance. Wolf’s voice was at times joyous and then melancholy, ringing clear across the naval base while accompanied by Juodvalkis’ lively guitar and keyboards.
The fourth act directly addressed the companion theme of migration. Director Estrella dedicated Somewhere to Land “to all migrating children, past, present, and future” and wanted to explore “what it means to belong to a place, to each other, to a community.” The scene opened with Simcock’s monologue about the wings of military airplanes on the naval base being replaced by the wings of majestic birds. She then mused, “I’m starting to think of my next migration.
Where do I belong?” as two dancers began to move to her story. The music started up with lyrics coming from the nest:
“Losing my place.”
“Is this my family’s fate?”
“We worked so hard.”
In the final act you could hear Wolf calling out to the audience as all six dancers, including the narrator, gently swayed back and forth in the air. “We need to find somewhere softer, somewhere to sleep, somewhere to land.”
For more information about the Rising Tides Climate Arts Initiative visit the Rising Tides website. Somewhere to Land was performed September 26, 27, and 28.
Jean Chen is a contributing writer for the Alameda Post. Contact her via [email protected]. Her writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Jean-Chen.
