A Charged Atmosphere: Bombshell Dance Project’s ‘Flies’ Packs with a Punch

Early in their professional careers, Emily Bernet and Taylor Rodman felt dissatisfied with women’s roles in contemporary dance performance. “We came from performing works choreographed by men in which the women were lifted, made beautiful lines, and looked very pretty. But then we would watch the men’s sections where the movement was very grounded and tremendously physical. We were hungry for that kind of experience,” Rodman explains.

Compelled to expand women’s performing possibilities while exploring storytelling through dance-theater, Bernet and Rodman founded Bombshell Dance Project in 2016. Since then, this all-female Dallas-based company has exploded onto the scene.

Bombshell’s fall season premiere, Flies, presented by AT&T Performing Arts Center, features the dynamic, hyper-physical movement that these artistic directors craved. Rodman describes it as movement that, “packs with a punch.” The production, running Oct. 25-26 in the Wyly Studio Theater in Dallas, is inspired by William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies.

Golding’s 1954 tale of marooned schoolboys’ divisive and sometimes savage behavior has deep resonance for these contemporary choreographers/directors. “The novel’s theme of division is particularly mirrored in our society now. (We live in) a very charged atmosphere,” Bernet says.

Bernet and Rodman have layered spoken text and movement in previous productions. While they found Golding’s narrative compelling, they wanted a performance libretto specifically designed for an all-female cast. To this end, they approached Canadian playwright and essayist Julia Lederer to collaborate with them on the show’s creation.

It was Lederer’s studio reading of her play, I am an Island, last May that convinced the directors they had found the textual voice they sought. In her work, the playwright explores contemporary women’s experiences, and her female characters are diverse and nuanced. Most importantly, though, Lederer’s writing motivates their creative process. “Julia’s poetic style for us is a natural partner to movement,” Bernet claims.

Lederer and Bombshell started working together months before the performers entered the rehearsal studio. This production is set in the present day, and the story’s characters are adult women, not schoolchildren. “All of our characters have their histories; they all have their back stories and unique reasons why they were on the plane, and therefore, on the island. We are very interested in showing how power dynamics shift once they are far away from a known society and then dive into a more savage life,” Bernet explains.

The characters include a corporate manager along with her assistant, a mother, and a maid of honor on her way to a wedding. Both the movement and the text depict the characters’ struggles as they strategize for survival. Yet, in this production, the directors focus equally on the psychic and physical conflicts in the storyline. “We want to include the mental games women often play when they are seeking power,” Rodman notes.

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Emily Bernet, Shadden Hashem, Hannah Staton, Grace Major, Surayya Raheem, and Taylor Rodman rehearsing the Bombshell Dance Project production of Flies. Photo by Mae Haines.

 

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Grace Major, Shadden Hashem, Taylor Rodman, and Emily Bernet rehearsing the Bombshell Dance Project production of Flies.  Photo by Mae Haines.

 

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Bombshell Dance Project directors Emily Bernet and Taylor Rodman rehearsing Flies. Photo by Mae Haines. 

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Shadden Hashem and Grace Major rehearsing the Bombshell Dance Project production of Flies. Photo by Mae Haines.  

 

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Emily Bernet in the Bombshell Dance Project production of In the Conservatory with the Knife. Photo by Mae Haines.

 

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Once in the studio, the performers are also collaborators. “We have a very lively, interactive rehearsal process.  We always say during the creation process, everything is up for debate at all times. We are very comfortable with this sort of ‘let loose’ structure,” says Rodman.

As the librettist, Lederer observes rehearsals and allows the text to evolve. “When Julia comes into the studio, she hears the dancers read the text and then she adapts it. The dancers are definitely influencing the characters’ development. Together we are constantly thinking about which parts of the story are told best through text and what is best told through movement,” Bernet adds.

Acting coach Ally Van Deuren, musician and sound mixer Jeff Kinsey, and lighting designer Aaron Johansen have worked on previous Bombshell performances, and they are again contributing creatively to Flies. A new collaborator, Justin Locklear, is designing an adaptable set that is well suited to the dynamic and alive ethos of the company.

Bombshell’s artistic team are configuring the Wyly Studio Theater for an immersive audience experience. Flies is presented on a thrust stage; meaning, the audience is seated on three sides and the performing space juts out, or is thrust, into the house. The set extends into the audience area and the lighting evokes the swampy, humid feeling of the story’s island location.

“Beyond audience members being so up close (to the performers), they are also captured in the whole experience; the audience is a piece of this world that we are creating,” Bernet notes.

In this production, viewers are also creative collaborators. Bernet and Rodman do not want to give too much away, but they note that the audience will vote along with the characters to shape parts of the story. The directors feel that active participation encourages people to think about performances long after a show is over.

Flies’ exploration of gendered power dynamics, character evolution, social division and choreography that “packs with a punch,” is certain to spark conversations. Rodman says, “Our goal is to get the audience talking—about dance, yes—but also about current social issues.”

—TARA MUNJEE