The Theatre Department opened its doors for its spring dance show, “Encounters.” Performed on April 25 and 26 and May 2 and 4, the nonlinear piece explored themes of worldly human connection through contemporary dance, singing and monologues.

Rogelio Lopez, a Costa Rican choreographer and the show’s guest director, worked alongside associate directors Neva Kenny, an assistant professor of dance, and Elizabeth Mozer, an associate professor of theatre. Together, they used unique movements, props and costuming to channel various elements of humanity and nature.

A collaboration between students and faculty, the performance exemplified the shared experience of humanity under Rogelio’s guidance and use of “El Teatro de Imagen,” a genre of theater that tells a story through dramatic movement and physicality. The interpretive performance allowed the audience to engage with each act in a way that resonated with them.
Lopez highlighted the versatility of visual and performing arts as a form of communication, rather than spoken language.

“I’m trying to build communication and because I don’t know the language, it’s very difficult for me, but I can talk with you thanks to the image — and that’s perfect,” Lopez said. “That’s my idea of how we are over the limits of the communication. And my life has tried to create that language. My life, it’s almost 50 years, working every day without the words and silent image, because that image, when you see it, you immediately create a connection.”

“And that is ‘Teatro de Imagen,’” he continued. “Because theater is voice — that’s theater in particular. Of course, there’s a lot of ways to do theater, but in particular to speak about how we can build a language without speaking, but speaking a lot — that’s the idea of the ‘Teatro de Imagen.’”

“Encounters” was an evocative representation of the beauty of the human experience, encapsulating both the good and the bad aspects of life on Earth. The audience travels with the characters, exploring different cultures and emotions like love, joy and grief. A poetic metaphor for the complexity of human nature, the show drew attention to current issues like climate change and capitalism.

Lopez explained how he used different physical aspects of theater to build on nonverbal communication in his art.

“And at the same time, for that is to use two elements, the human body and all that is around, like the objects, the projections, the music, etc., etc., etc.,” Lopez said. “But the human and in particular — the gestures, because the gestures is the language without words, isn’t it?”

Lopez said that the performance was created in only four weeks in a more non-traditional rehearsal process, which uplifted students’ unique talents and captured the abstract.

“‘Encounters’ was a devised piece in that it wasn’t necessarily the traditional way of doing theater where it’s top down,” said CK Zaki, an interpreter for Lopez and a senior double-majoring in theatre and Spanish. “You have a playwright who writes a text, and then that text gets interpreted by one director and then the director makes all the choices of how then the actors move. It was a very collaborative environment and process. And I think that that was really cool, because the overall product of it is informed directly by those who were involved in it.”

Kenny and Mozer translated the intricacies of Lopez’s vision to the stage while playing the protagonists in the show. As aliens from an unfamiliar planet, they explore Earth through an outsider’s point of view and discover what it means to be human.

“There was a lot of exploration and opportunity to start to be comfortable in the uncomfortableness of being seen in something in a language that may be different than what you are used to,” Kenny said.

The protagonists are spiritually connected women who challenge the traditional male adventurer archetype. Through each act, Lopez emphasized the importance of making space for women and nature.

Along with live music and songs, “Encounters” also featured spoken word performances in a variety of languages. Jamie Papa, a first-year master’s student studying theater, sang in English and Filipino, while Yulia Garavea, a senior double-majoring in anthropology and sociology and Heidy Batista Garcia, a lecturer of theatre, read letters crafted for their parents in Russian and Spanish, adding an identity-based element to the show.

“Encounters” has a contemplative, interpretive ending, as the characters depart from Earth and leave the audience understanding how to learn from the past to reach for a brighter future. The show defied expectations by bringing contemporary productions to a wider audience on campus.

“I think that there is a lot of beauty in ambiguity, and I hope that the audience was able to sort of fit in the multiple interpretations possible from the show, and to bring whatever they feel is personally relevant to them to it,” Zaki said. “I think the show was really, I mean, it’s called ‘Encounters,’ and I feel like it really is about encountering humanity from different perspectives and different lived experiences and how those different lived experiences kind of communicate a universal humanity. I hope people were able to find something personal and universal in it.”