To see the core dancers begin to rehearse is to see another layer of “Habitat.” Rehearsals with these professional dancers began this week for the Opera House Arts production.

I walked into the gymnasium of Deer Isle-Stonington Elementary to find five separate sets of colored scaffolding. All different dimensions, the modules looked like skeletons of play houses. A pair of dancers climbed around one of the props in the middle of the gym floor. “We’re improvising movement and generating material,” “Habitat” director Alison Chase said as she conducted her crew of 10 dancers. With gloved hands, the “Habitat” dancers climbed around the structures like acrobats, hoisting their bodies around the metal bars, standing on each other’s shoulders and learning how to slink around the structures. Each pair took turns moving their bodies to different music selections while Alison and the other dancers watched.

This exercise is the beginning of piecing together what the production dances will look like. They are theatrical, evidence that habitat isn’t defined simply as a dance performance. The dances are set to a musical score, composed by Alison’s nephew, Nigel Chase. “The music has to take its cues from what’s happening on stage,” he said. “Sometimes the dancers follow the music and other times the music follows the dancers.”
Like the dances, the music is evolving and developing. At this practice, the dancers moved to different sounds. One pair used the tune “At Last” by Etta James. I was struck by the dancers’ sheer strength. With ease, they snaked their bodies all over the miniature houses. It looked effortless. The actions were childlike, it felt like they were at play. Even though they were improvising the movements were organic. Flowing together, the action didn’t seem forced, and each pair punctuated their performance with colorful facial expressions. Improvisation is an important element in Alison’s choreography. “It’s very boring to tell someone what to do and glue it down to counts,” she said. “It’s more exciting to see people create something that is authentic and has personality.”

To read more about the creation of "Q2: Habitat," visit Opera House Arts' blog at http://storyatthequarry.blogspot.com.