COMMON GROUND

"Common Ground began with a unison duet that was eventually pulled apart as more dancers filtered onstage. All wore loose, uniform outfits of varied gem tones. They pivoted their limbs with precision, backgrounded by a score of synth sounds. Occasionally, they performed visceral gestures that punctured and probed the terrain of their bodies—the jostling of a ribcage, slap of a pelvis, or pounding of a chest—as if to signal alchemical processes at work beneath their skin...sharp partner work of Amanda Sachs and Ingrid Ferdinand, two women who shared fierce chemistry in their duet...final series of jumps, pulling energy from the floor up through their buoyant bodies and sending it toward the audience with open arms. This durational climax gave me time to notice the dancers as a collective and to feel invited in by them." — Oregon Arts Watch