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An article in The New York Times last spring chronicled Robert Cole’s lining up collaborators to bring Sacred Monsters to the West Coast. One of the nice things about the University of California campuses is that U.C. Berkeley and UCLA make possible stellar events; other campuses may also book it. With such collaboration, an event can anticipate from two to seven bookings. Oregon and Washington colleges may also kick in; sometimes Arizona, enabling a substantive Western tour.

I once was told in the 60's three women on their respective campuses: Ann Arbor, Michigan; Austin, Texas and Berkeley, California made possible American modern dance company tours with support for the National Endowment for the Arts. Robert Cole has continued in Berkeley, expanding it imaginatively; Sacred Monsters is a recent example; clearly a major one.

Sylvia Guillem and Akram Khan’s event with its five musicians, set by Shizuka Hariu, filled Zellerbach Hall with an understandable buzz May 5. Those seeing Khan at Yerba Buena Theater in 2003 were primed; others who following the Guillem career had their expectations. It's East-West physical encounter via England, post-colonial migration; French individuality. The French-flavored names in the mid-West US owe their presence to the French Canadian sojourn and its voyagers; New World adventure was not confined to England, Italy, Spain or Portugal.

Because Sacred Monsters originated at Sadler’s Wells, I may well be redundant. However, Shizuka Hariu’s paper set with its elongated eye and ramp provided an assymetrical breadth framing the dancers. They started their hour and ten minutes with Guillem in chains, Khan behind her lifting her arms, both dancers miked.

Reading about Guillem, I did not anticipate rust-hued hair or her extremely slender body, its lines or the looseness of the connecting muscles not just at the hip, but also elbows and shoulders. She wore trousers like a Japanese hakama as did Khan, hers black, topped by an almost café au lait tee shirt his black with the shirt khaki hued, ankles wrapped in Kathak fire-tempered bells.

Near the musicians down stage left, a western approximation of the Indian practice of drummer, flautist, singer, here cello, violin, western percussion and singer with Indian harmonium, Khan stated briefly Guillem struggled with whether she would be obedient or true to herself. Behind her, like Khan, singer Juliette Van Peroghem released Guillem’s chains; she began to move. And such movement without shoes; most of it lateral, breathtaking back bends, twists, the vertical right leg articulation with its extraordinary heel flexion, left leg almost equal. While I understood what her talent must have been in toe shoes, I was happy to see her body in service to contemporary expression, its apparent lack of strain in anything she undertook, mostly forward stage center.
 

Guillem retired, sitting upper stage right before the white paper set; Khan faced us down stage left, speaking about Lord Krishna’s typical depiction: dark skin, abundant black hair, hence Khan’s concern about hair loss and its effect on the deity’s portrayal; Krishna became the god within, a monster to be released. Khan launched into his Kathak solo, like Guillem, largely executed laterally, more to front stage right, as if any minute he was going to challenge the Western musicians with a boll recitation. Some exchange ensued; nothing compared to a traditional Kathak recital.

Before the two paired off, Khan removed his ankle bells, kissing each as he set them on the floor. Guillem did her Sally dance, connecting the name with her English lessons and George Schultz’ Sally in an Italian book store. Guillem sat front stage center, narrating, moving arms, legs, torso and head like sections of a tinker toy set. The artist’s manipulation was a continuing surprise, the audience never knowing whether an arm, hand, thigh, foot, or torso would punctuate the narrative.

Guillem brought Khan a towel; then the two touched hands, entwined them, pressing in and out; Khan began to turn her in and under, a disparate display of her agility and his tightly muscled strength, if shorter in height. Khan asked questions; Guillem responding in Italian, gently, like doves cooing, teasing, ambience collegial,testing differences and similarities. Khan tried the aggressive male approach, Guillem refuted him gently, efficiently, deflating the macho, reducing Khan to floor position, the section a jerky silent movie passage. Khan again took Guillem in a ballroom position; their maneuvers, now harmonious, completed themselves. Particularly affecting was Guilllem's angularity entwined around and supported by Khan; not only the postural shifts Guillem made, but Kahn's small periodic adjustments to maintain her position.

The enthusiasm was sheer pandemonium.

Thinking myself clever commenting about tall French women, at 800 words Muriel Mafree (the SFB principal) deserves separate comment.