Dancer Christian Swenson goes from animal to alien in his jazz-charged routines.
It took Christian Swenson a while to name his own act.
At one point, the performance artist called his jazz-charged, spiritually infused whole-body musical spectacle “Dansing” with an “s,” to capture its unconventional combination of voice and dance. But the term didn’t fully encompass the show’s theatrical, improvisational essence.
Even now, what eventually became “Human Jazz” takes some effort to classify. But Swenson tries.
“The show…is an homage to the human instrument – the body and the voice – in that it’s playing with dancing, singing, acting, miming, sometimes simultaneously and sometimes separately,” Swenson said. “It looks like the stuff people would do locked in their bathrooms that they’d never do in public.”
When Swenson entered the University of New Hampshire in the 1970s, he was originally attracted to the theater program. In particular, he said, “I was excited by the idea of being a movie monster actor.”
But as Swenson pursued drama, he also found himself compelled to branch out. He discovered jazz, dance and mime, – a form he says still helps him unleash his “inner monster.” This new and passionate combination formed the basis for his Human Jazz solo work.
Swenson now teaches in the theater program at Seattle University and leads frequent workshops with school children and young adults.
One such dance workshop led to his latest collaboration with six students from Bainbridge Dance Center’s Advanced Modern Repertory class; on Saturday evening at BPA, he’ll fold these dancers into this zany world of physical and musical transformation.
As Swenson performs, his body flows in and out of different characters, much like a voice can flow in and out of dialects. Sometimes the music comes from within his body to drive his motion; other times, the reverse is true and the music slams him into a response that’s “sort of James Brown-like.”
“It’s playful,” he said. “You start singing these riffs, and the body and voice begin to collaborate and create singing and dancing. These combine with the dramatic element. So you really have two characters singing the music.”
Some of Swenson’s pieces are pure improvisation and some start with a basic song, narrative or theatrical framework.
In his animal-themed “De-evolution,” he inhabits a variety of creatures in a way that attempts to “go beyond the Hallmark card version” and delve into each creature’s primal and spiritual core.
“There’s a sacred aspect to holding the shape of this animal and looking out into the audience through the eyes of this animal,” he said.
He also does a rendition of Lewis Carroll’s surreal poem “Jabberwocky” that he says “is so creepy – I like to take it to the edge where it’s both funny and scary.”
Caitlin Jones, a BDC student performer, describes how one minute Swenson will be standing still, and then suddenly he’ll fiercely inhabit the persona of an animal or an alien.
“It’s incredible to watch,” she said. “He’s quite a guy.”
Swenson said that since he so often works with and performs for children, adult audiences are a particular treat.
“Grownups tend to be fascinated by the originality of it,” he said. “It’s so familiar, but they’ve never seen anything like it.”
Swenson says the performances’ trance-like elements and prayer also resonate with adults. On the other end of the spectrum, infants are sometimes transfixed as well.
Swenson has worked with a number of dance instructors on the island, and when the BPA contacted Bainridge Dance Center Director Susan Thompson about the possibility of collaborating with her students on a performance, she said, “Absolutely, if Christian was interested.”
“There are so few people who are that talented and that developed in dance improvisation,” Thompson said. “It’s really so specialized and so rare. It’s lovely for our advanced dancers to have the opportunity to work with masters.”
Swenson said that in rehearsal, he has asked the dancers to step outside their comfort zone. To begin with, they’re used to choreography and technique, neither of which plays any part in Swenson’s vision.
Voice work and frequent physical contact with each other also put them on unfamiliar footing.
“This is definitely pushing their boundaries a bit, the wackiness of it,” Swenson said. “It’s more playful but also requires a certain amount of commitment. For dancers, using your voice while performing is a big leap.”
Jones agrees, saying that vocalization was especially difficult to get into at first. “But after awhile,” she said, “it became more natural and ended up being really fun, actually. It’s another way of expressing yourself.”
“We’re all playing off each other,” added Kim Lusk, another BDC performer.
Swenson said that with all the singing, chanting and speaking in tongues that goes on during rehearsals, he and the dancers frequently crack up and have to regain literal and figurative balance.
“We barely know what we’re doing,” he said. “The audience is on the edge of its seat, and so are we. We’re all right there in the thick of it.”
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Whole-body takeover
Christian Swenson performs Human Jazz at 7:30 April 14 at BPA. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors/military/students/youth. Call 842-8569 or visit www.theplayhouse.org. To experience Human Jazz, visit www.humanjazz.com.
