Instant Upgrade
Katherine Knight
Eight dancers hit the stage this past weekend at Temple University’s Conwell Dance Theatre for Jumatatu Poe’s graduate thesis concert. Altered Egos debuted late last year in Philly’s Fringe Festival and after more development and experimentation, Jumatatu shared the final draft. I caught up with Jumatatu after the show to talk about the piece, and the process.
“Where was Altered Egos born from?”
Andy Warhol’s quote, “In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes,” influenced Jumatatu’s concept to emerge. The Internet is giving people their 15 minutes of fame through online communities and websites where you can create an alter ego. Websites such as Myspace.com, Facebook.com, and dating pages give people an opportunity to create a fantasy life. Although it can have a negative connotation, the Internet has also offered new and amazing forms of communicating and ways of developing relationships.
Jumatatu’s passion for caricatures was obvious in the roles that emerge in the piece. Julia plays the main character, a girl who creates an online profile. She leads us through the piece, encountering different characters. The main characters were superheroes, who are a perfect analogy for living this dual life. Superheroes lead the life of fantasy, and also of a common citizen. These lives cannot meet and therefore webs of lies are born to keep their lives separate. Jumatatu says he loves the morbidity and beauty of this challenge and says he’s “always been obsessed” with superheroes and loves how they fit into the concept of the piece. The dancers truly embodied each character, including very amusing facial expressions. Jumatatu wanted the dancers to experience a “whole body experience” while performing. The dancers entered stage in extravagantly colorful outfits depicting different superheroes, designed by former Temple student Abigail Zbikowski. They entered and exited the stage gliding with long, graceful strides. The movement was strong and direct, and at times imitated flying into the air with their capes in the wind behind them. The superhero theme reappeared through the piece and left a strong impression in my mind.
A more realistic character appeared in another section. The scene portrayed a male dancer staring at a laptop indulging in his fantasy life online, while a female dancer sat lovingly next to him dying for attention. This section meant a lot to Jumatatu, saying if it weren’t perfect, it wouldn’t have been put on the stage. It showed a man who felt sexually repressed and his only outlet was the Internet, which offered him an intangible freedom from his real life. This scene showed the fleeting happiness that the Internet can offer, but the physical pleasure can only be imagined.
Altered Egos incorporated a lot of technological elements. The incorporation of technology was always in the works for this piece, and Jumatatu says it’s a great way to bring together the commercial world and the art world. There were multiple videos, edited by Jumatatu, that were projected on the back screen, and also on an oversized wooden desk at stage left. The lighting was done by Sandra Giasulla, and added the appropriate emotion to every scene. As for sounds, the music selection was the “sound of the now” and truly emulated visiting one of these websites. Ultimately though, Jumatatu wishes to work with a live band.
The piece ended with the main character, Julia, sitting at the desk with her laptop. The screen behind her showed different scenes of superheroes saving beautiful young women, while a dancer imitating one of those damsels, ran onto stage and was picked up by her hero, Jumatatu. They exit after a dramatic kiss and the lighting fades to Julia at her desk. She begins to repeat “my hero,” over and over until satisfied with how it sounds. Jumatatu says “she changes her mind and she changes her face, then tries again.” She’s unsure if she’s trying to be the hero, or looking for her own hero.
“Any last thoughts after completing your final show at Temple University?”
Jumatatu shared with me his passion for the fusion of art forms and technology and notes the “intense stimulatory demands,” of our generation and notes this fact while creating the piece. It then became more assessable to the viewers because of the visual and auditory stimulants that it offers. Jumatatu’s only goal was to reach the audience with the information without sacrificing the artistry saying, “That’s why I do this!” Next, Jumatatu would love to continue developing this piece, and is looking for more venues to share it.