Having seen the dress rehearsal and interviewed Owens, I am still hard put to describe the production accurately, except to say that it's a cross between Tim Burton's dark fantasies, English mythology and "Swan Lake." Get the picture? If you're curious, read on.
Owens first came upon Spenser's 16th-century poem in January 2000, while studying as a fellow at the Folger Shakespeare Library in D.C. After a belated declaration of her interdisciplinary major last semester, Owens decided that adapting "The Faerie Queen" would be a perfect project to synthesize her interests in literature and movement, at the same time serving as a performance piece for the Amherst Repertory Company, the ballet group she founded last year.
The protagonist of "Traveler," Sir Guyon (Brian Clowdus '03), is a moral man bent on taming the Bower of Bliss, a bastion of hedonism. The Faerie Queen, never seen on-stage, is Guyon's boss and represents Queen Elizabeth I, in whose honor Spenser wrote the original poem. Guyon's nemesis, Acrasia (Maggie Powers of UMass), heads the Bower of Bliss. In Pinocchio-like fashion, she turns any man who wanders into her domain into an impotent beast. Also figuring prominently in the story is Amavia (Tatiana Grigorenko '03), a brave woman who ventures into the Bower to recover her lost husband (Danny Perez '04).
Owens said she responded to the "heightened fantasy" and "almost Monty Python-esque humor" in Spenser's verse. She has attempted to re-form those elements on the stage through the use of ornate lights and costumes (Guyon wears a giant blue sequined crucifix, Acrazia sports a hoop skirt and corset, and there are scary stilleto heels throughout) and also through the movement itself, which is a combination of classical ballet and modern dance.
"I didn't want to work in a strict ballet vocabulary," said Owens. "Rather, I'd like to use that as a base and build movement off of that. Within the piece, we're constantly shifting between styles, one commenting on the other. And that's similar to what Spenser is doing with the archaic language; sometimes he approaches it reverentially, and sometimes parodically."
Owens founded the 13-member Repertory Company as a performance unit for serious ballet dancers. Although "Traveler" is by no means a classical ballet, Owens explained, "I wanted to have that ballet athleticism and intensity that you get from working with people who have very serious classical ballet training."
Alongside the highly trained members of the Repertory Company (including a few, like Grigorenko, who have danced professionally), Owens also recruited a trio of non-dancers (Mark Cahill '01, Dave Straub '02 and Bailey Williams '01) to play the man-beasts. "Basically," said Owens, "I was looking for burly, athletic guys." Beyond their physical builds, Owens also thought that their participation would help "Traveler" reach a wider audience, a concern that she has had throughout the project.
"Staging it outside the Campus Center," Owens said, "targets a very different audience from that which you'd get at either Kirby or the Experimental Theater."
What audiences will see is not only choreography and performers but a multi-media extravaganza of sight and sound. Owens spent last semester raising over $4,600 from sources including Alpha Delta Phi Fund, the Office of the President, the Dean of the Faculty, Five Colleges Inc., Social Council, Student Finance Committee and the theater and dance department.
To complement the dancers, there will be voice-over narration taken from and inspired by Spenser's text. In addition to the electronic score, there will be a trio of live singers accompanied by a violinist.
"It's all very over the top," said Owens in summary.
Still having a hard time imagining all this? See the show. If you're looking for something unique, it won't disappoint.