Finding the 'Ugly' in beauty

Mathew Janczewski's choreography is beloved for its elegant construction, formal intelligence and lush grace. In the most classical sense, his work is beautiful. So it's no surprise that over the past two years, audiences viewing workshop performances of his new piece "Ugly" voiced their opinions about the title.

"When I asked for feedback, a lot of people said they hated the title," Janczewski said last week after a rehearsal with his company, Arena Dances. "Ugly" premieres this weekend at Walker Art Center, which commissioned the work. "They also said, 'This piece isn't ugly. These are beautiful dancers!'"

Scratch the surface of the work's gorgeous veneer and what's there might be disturbing: desperation beneath the grace; terror embedded in the tenderness; ferocity fueling the bodies flung through space.

Then there are the sexually suggestive vignettes: a dancer faux-fornicating with his image on a TV screen; an animalistic rave scene; two men engaged in jujitsu-like coupling; projected text from online-dating messages.

Janczewski isn't judging such behavior, he said. In fact, playwright Kira Obolensky, in her role as dramaturg for the piece, frequently called him on points in the creative process when she felt the choreographer was passing judgment.

"I started on this piece, 2½ years ago, interested in what I judged as ugly behavior," Janczewski said. "Then I started questioning that judgment. What I might think is wrong, others might enjoy. So instead, in the piece, I've tried to break down some of those predetermined barriers. And I'm letting the audience interpret and judge.

"I always think about the audience when I make work, how to guide their gaze, or fill them with so much contrast that they're left questioning. There are a lot of moments in 'Ugly' where they get to choose whether to look at something or not. I'm leaving it open to their voyeuristic gaze."

Graffiti on a grain elevator

The process of creating "Ugly" actually began about five years ago, when Janczewski noticed the word "ugly" graffiti-ed on a grain elevator. He began stewing about notions of beauty in western culture, and American culture's obsession with appearances.

"Reality TV shows were just coming on, like 'The Swan' and 'Extreme Makeover,'" he said. "I was fascinated with why we ... can't just be happy with ourselves and who we are. Why can't we just work with what we've been given?"

The Walker committed to the work, explained performing-arts curator Philip Bither, after Janczewski shared visual materials he gathered during research. "Mathew wanted to explore the obsession with superficial beauty that's particularly present in our society at this moment," Bither said. "He was delving into the issue with great passion and seriousness. Because Mathew's one of the most significant dance makers in Minnesota, we wanted to offer him an opportunity to take his work to the next level, both in concept and scale."

Teeth whiteners. Fat pills. Plastic surgery. The false identities created during online dating. "I'm concerned with how much our culture is obsessed with appearances, the need to have everyone like us, and how impossible that is," Janczewski said. When asked if he isn't, also, obsessed with appearances, he admitted, "It would be wrong if I said I wasn't."

For instance, he buys music based on the cover art. That's how he found electronic-music pioneer Morton Subotnick, who composed the score and performs it live during the concert.

"Five years ago, when I started to play with ideas for 'Ugly' in the studio with Amy [Behm-Thomson, dancer]," he recalled, "I thought of Morton's music right away. I thought it was ugly, a little hard to take. I didn't really like it, and yet there was something compelling in it."

He contacted Subotnick, who had created music for California choreographer Anna Halprin in the 1960s, and the two exchanged CDs and DVDs. After seeing Janczewski perform in a showcase in New York City, Subotnick signed on.

Meanwhile, Behm-Thomson had become the heart and soul of "Ugly." A silent, ever-present narrator of sorts -- at the opening of the piece her arms inscribe the space as if they were both pen and ink -- "she represents the truth of movement, the stripping away of insecurities and fears that reveals the real person," Janczewski said.

"'Ugly' is about the facade we all put on. I'm trying to get in there and strip away the ego. Amy is the epitome of that, to me. As she dances, she strips away her wants and desires as a performer, and it's about the movement." That is, Janczewski's strong, elegant, beautiful movement.

Camille LeFevre is a Twin Cities dance critic.