"...Several square screens are suspended above the stage, surrounded by large white flood lights. Projected on to the screens are Nicola Parente's footage, stills, and paintings, capturing the dancers in motion and in closeup. Later during the piece, more abstract images resembling urban decay come and go in a rhythmic accompaniment. On the side of the stage sits Two Star Symphony, Houston's venerable indie string quartet, playing a collection of their greatest hits. The dancing moves in solos, duets, and scattered ensemble work enlisting Walsh's highly sharp-edged choreography, all of which fits nicely into the container shared with the edgy string musicians and Parente's striking work. Walsh frames his dances with a good eye for the whole of what an audience experiences. Walsh has been making strides this season in having the visual design assume a larger presence in his work..."
"Parente's contribution works well and there's a nice sense of scale and balance between the size and placement of the images. Costumes, jointly designed by Walsh, Parente, and Luciano, consisted of sleek paneled skirts, and merged well with the overall structure of the piece."
"The conclusion of Terminus is particularly mysterious. Dawn Dippel and Riccardo De Nigris appear in nude-toned underwear and proceed to cover each other with blue paint through a sensual partnering. Possibly, they have become the paintings..."
"...the piece succeeds on its collaborative energy. Also, it's good to see Walsh push himself into unknown territory, resisting more tried and true templates for dancemaking."
My paintings in the background... Dominic Walsh's Terminus, motivated by Nicola Parente's "The Edge of Urban Time" series of abstract paintings, premiered as part of the company's recent E_Merging II program.
