Thrills, spills, and visual chills

Dance Magazine, July, 2004 by Ani Raymond

Extreme risk, adventurous dancers, add visually arresting stage design are all characteristic of Christine Bennett's evocative choreography. For the April premiere of "Air & Water," a programme featuring two works performed at the Regis College Fine Arts Center in Weston, Massachusetts, the Artistic Director of Boston-based Bennett Dance Company gave stagecraft a central role. She chose to elevate her dancers eighteen feet above the stage via a giant rope arrangement in The Net, then submerge them in a four-foot square copper pool of water in Well. The tricky rope design was the work of Dutch artist Pieter Smit, while the pool that became a central element in the second piece was created by Michael Dowling.

Bennett, who founded the BDC in 1996, uses an eclectic approach to creating a mood on stage, often incorporating sculpture, martial arts or photography into her choreography. "Air & Water" featured Bennett company dancers Andrea Blesso, Mary McCarthy, DeAnna Pellecchia, and Ingrid Schatz.