DD Dorvillier’s Enigmatic Performance at Chocolate Factory Theater
As DD Dorvillier graced the stage of the Chocolate Factory Theater on Thursday evening, it became immediately apparent that the audience was in the presence of a masterful artist, deeply entrenched in her craft. With a simple yet profound act of standing still and scanning the room, she ignited a spark in the unadorned warehouse space, her enigmatic gaze radiating with subtle shifts of awareness. This was a delicate invitation into a performance crafted with an exquisite touch.
A prominent figure in New York’s downtown dance scene since the 1990s, Dorvillier relocated to France in 2010, where she now resides and creates in Burgundy. In her latest work, “Dance is the archeologist, or an idol in the bone,” which made its United States premiere as part of L’Alliance New York’s Crossing the Line festival, Dorvillier explores choreographic concepts that emerged from a dream inspired by her research of obscure archaeological sites in France. The program notes suggest that she has been contemplating the preservation of dance, a theme that permeates this work.
True to its dreamlike origins, the solo piece evokes a surreal state, enhanced by Sébastien Roux’s minimal yet immersive electronic score. The delicate halos of sound that rise, hover, and dissipate create an atmospheric backdrop, while Madeline Best’s signature lighting design transports the audience into a different realm. Throughout the performance, hints of the past’s fluidity and the future’s uncertainty, whether ominous or hopeful, drift in and out of the loosely structured piece.
Spanning approximately 40 minutes, Dorvillier, clad in jeans, white sneakers, and a black T-shirt, repeats a sequence of movements twice, though not quite identically. During the second iteration, the audience begins to notice and hear elements that were absent the first time. Or perhaps they simply overlooked them initially? Echoes from the first round—sound snippets produced by Dorvillier’s voice and body, including footfalls, grunts, and intonations—resurface as recordings in the second performance. This creates an effect akin to a fading memory reemerging or a duplicate that is subtly skewed from its original form.
Beginning with her initial stillness, Dorvillier transitions into movement, initiating a circling motion with one wrist, followed by the other. As this motion flows through her body, it propels her across the stage, resembling a mix of wrangling, weaving, rummaging, or conducting an unseen orchestra. In one of her several vocal interjections, she dryly poses the question, “What if?” leaving the inquiry hanging in the air, an invitation to explore the unknown.