Alwin Nikolais paved the way for artists to go beyond the expected. He helped bring abstraction into the dance world. "Noumenon", along with some of his other pieces, brought the art of movement intone focus. Yes, story telling is an art, but dance should not be dependent on a narrative. Movement for movement's sake is still art and has value.
I love how abstract dances like "Noumenon" can be appreciated and interpreted differently by every viewer. Some people may be fascinated by the shapes made; others could be drawn to the visual effects; others may have been fascinated with how the fabric was manipulated; and, others may actually create a story line of their own.
As an artist I am so thankful that creators like Alwin Nikolais have given me the freedom to explore abstraction in all categories: movement, costume, lighting, and sound.
The costumes for "Noumenon" were large bags made of white Lycra Stretch fabric that fit the dancers perfectly when they are standing in a X position.
This costume forces the viewers' and dancers' focus to be on the movement created and shapes made. It conceals the dancers' faces, gender, and the shapes of their bodies. Nikolais didn't think that it was necessary for the audience to relate to the dancers. This shocked audiences who were used to narratives and emotions. "Dance is motion, not emotion," is a quote from Nikolais.
Another interesting quality of this costume is that it completely obscured the dancers vision. It must have been extremely disorienting to dance a duet that is in complete unison without being about to see your partner or even whether you were facing the audience.
Lighting
Even though the costumes were white, Nikolais used lighting to manipulate what the audience saw. He used elaborate lighting scores way before any of his peers.
He was also the first person to illuminate his dancers from the side. Before, overheard lighting was used to replicate natural lighting. Nikolais found that this type of lighting showed more of the dirty floor than the dancers. Now side lighting, or shin-busters as some performers call them, are standard stage lighting.
Sound
Nikolais often created his own music and "Noumenon" is a good example of that. He liked to combine an assortment of untraditional sounds and arrange them outside of a standard metered rhythm.
It was harder for him to accomplish this before recording devices became more accessible. As soon as he could, he got his own synthesizer. Again, he was way head of his peer when it cam to technology.
In "Noumenon", the dancers were completely depended on the music when it came to staying together since they couldn't see each other. This meant that they needed to know it the sound sequence especially well since there wasn't a consistent rhythm to the music.
There are two different opinions about Alwin Nikolais' work including his piece "Noumenon (1953)".
Positive
The New York Times calls him a "one-man multimedia wizard". The reviewer praises Nikolais' attention to all aspects of the production: movement, set, costume, sound, and lighting. He was in awe of the inability to tell dancer from object with Alwin's moving visual artwork.
I agree that Nikolais was a genius who innovated so many aspects of performances and inspired other creators to look beyond the norm and surpass social and creative barriers.
Negative
Another New York dance critic said, "If Nikolais was a genius, it wasn’t in dance." This reviewer thinks that Nikolais may have been a genius when it comes to technology, but his dancers were "reduced to design elements." In Noumenon specifically, the author was shocked that Martha Graham didn't sue Nikolais for it being so similar to her famous solo"Lamentations". The reviewer was also not impressed with the dancer's movement even though his effects were before its time.
I completely disagree with this reviewer. Especially when he mentions dancers being "reduced to design element." The critic talks as if design elements are obsolete. If you watch an Alwin Nikolais piece, it is obvious how much care he gives every single element of the production. The point of being a dancer is not to become a "star". Alwin did not want the dancers to be the focus. He wanted the movement to be seen. "What is man? Man is not the kingpin of the earth; sometimes he is a defiler of it. I wanted to put man in balance with nature. I hated the star thing. My dancers do solos and duets, but they go back into the group, the environment." -Alwin Nikolais As for the Graham conspiracy, even though Nikolais didn't like Martha's freudian approach to choreography, he had studied under her and respected her art. "Noumenon" was meant to be an adaptation of "lamentation". Artists need to be inspired by other artists. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that!
Alwin Nikolais was an artist like never before. He was born November 25, 1910 in Southington, Connecticut and died May 8, 1993 in NYC. As a young man he was a silent music accompanist with the organ and worked as a puppeteer. It wasn't until he was 21 that he attended his first dance performance. It was then that he decided he wanted to become a choreographer.
Nikolais entered the dance world to study Mary Wigman's use of percussion in her dances. From there he founded a dance school and company in Hartford, Connecticut, and was director of the dance department that is now part of Hartford University. After serving in World War II, Nikolais studied with Hanya Holm and became her assistant. He also studied under Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, and Louis Horst.
Video Biography
In 1951, the Nikolais Dance Theater, originally the Playhouse Dance Company, was created. With his company Nikolais created dances with elaborate sets, costumes, and music that were all as equally important as the movement in the eyes of Alwin. Every component of the final product was put together with care and deep thought.
With his elaborate sets and costumes Nikolais took the focus off of the individual people and put it more on the visual and audio sensations. Narrative was out of the picture. Because of this, Nikolais was accused of "dehumanizing". Depersonalizing his dancers was liberating to Nikolais. He said that once the dancers no longer
had to worry about how their own forms would be judged, they could better identify with the shapes and movements they were making.
The Nikolais Dance Theater toured abroad throughout the 1970s.
Interview
Alwin Nikolais was one of the first choreographers to truly embrace new technologies. He broadcasted films of his work on American and British Television.
As seen in the link above, Noumenon, a thing in itself, exsists in oposition to phenomenon which is a thing as seen by an observer. Noumenon is completely without any thing invloving the senses. Many philosophers believe that humans cannot experience noumenon.
The way Nikolais choses to explore Noumenon is stunning. He covers the dancers in sretchy fabric and makes them appear as moving objects instead of human beings. He did this so tht the movement would be the focuse, not the individual people. Pictures of this dance look more like sculptures than people. Though philosophers may argue that humans can not see something without associating feeling to it, this piece may get as close as humanly possible.I do not associate any feelings to the dance itself but I am intriuged by the conept of it and the shapes made.
As an artist I am so thankful that creators like Alwin Nikolais have given me the freedom to explore abstraction in all categories: movement, costume, lighting, and sound.
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