For Petronio Company, less is more

In the abstract realm of dance, many choreographers claim their
work is accessible to the general public. But in reality, few
deliver, and audience members are left scratching their heads in
confusion.

But Stephen Petronio, who will perform at Royce Hall this Friday
and Saturday night, doesn’t claim to invite the audience into
his work through body language. Instead, he references pop culture
as the doorway for enjoyment, with music by Lou Reed and costuming
by Imitation of Christ’s Tara Subkoff.

Petronio has always placed high expectations on the intellectual
capacity of the audience.

“There was a time when I was purposely keeping people
out,” said Petronio. “I was making the dance as dense
and complicated as possible, and if you could machete your way into
the work, you can get the prize of enjoying it.”

But for the past few years, Petronio has embraced the philosophy
of “putting less on stage,” as shown in the three New
York-inspired pieces his company will be performing at Royce Hall:
“The City of Twist,” “The Island of Misfit
Toys” and “Broken Man.”

Each piece explores the quirks of New York, using artists who
live below 14th Street, in close proximity to Petronio. The piece
“City of Twist,” set to music by guitarist Blixa
Bargeld of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, is a series of character
portraits who cross paths daily but have no interaction with each
other. While “City of Twist” is a charming ode to the
city, “The Island of Misfit Toys,” whose name was
inspired by a scene in the classic 1960s Christmas claymation
special “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” casts light
on what Petronio calls the “nasty egocentric” side of
the city.

A medley of Reed’s music catalogue, composed primarily
with songs inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s “The
Raven,” but also including hits like “I’m Waiting
For the Man” and “Perfect Day,” sets the tone for
“The Island of Misfit Toys.”

“(The music is) noisy and dissonant (on the surface). …
It’s got a great kind of nursery rhyme feel to me. It’s
just great talent to take the unthinkable (topics of addiction and
obsession) and make it very palatable with beautiful
melodies,” said Petronio.

The guiding hand dressing Petronio’s characters in visual
extravagance is Subkoff, who uses reconstructed vintage items as
costuming.

“(Subkoff) kind of resurrects things from the graveyard of
fashion. With “˜The Island of Misfit Toys,’ she went
nuts and kind of made us into dolls,” said Petronio.

In Petronio’s solo piece “Broken Man,” he
wears a torn-up, exploded suit.

Petronio and Subkoff met in New York, where Subkoff has become
famous from making fun of the seriousness of the fashion
community.

“(Subkoff) is the “˜It’ girl of the 21st
century,” said Petronio. “She and the people at
Imitation of Christ cut the fashion industry at its knees, and took
the most mundane things and elevated them to a very high place in
fashion. She’s got incredible taste, and she sees a movement
before it’s happening.”

Though Petronio is now an internationally recognized figure in
the dance community, he took his first dance class at the
relatively advanced age of 18. His sense of humor and endless
imagination are the keys to his success.

“I’ve trained with ballet dancers who can’t
move in (other) ways because they’ve been so trained to move
(in ballet form). I ended up developing my own movement language
“¦ so my body didn’t have any clichés in it. Being
the last one at the end of the line, getting it wrong, it’s a
great place to be if you have a great sense of humor about it. You
never know what’s going to come out,” said
Petronio.

If Petronio can switch from being a pre-med in college to
rubbing elbows with the most innovative figures in the artistic
community, maybe there’s hope for undeclared college
students.

For more information on Stephen Petronio’s
performance, call (310) 825-2101 or visit
www.uclalive.org.