"all i really wanna do is..."a trance of spiraling records

In an upstairs room at the Phoenix Center for the Arts Jordan Daniels took his intimate audience on a circular journey through silver pants, gobo lights, stacks of vinyl records and Sam Cooke’s soulful funk. Early in the show Mr. Daniels quickly captivated his audience with his charming resolution of a slight music snafu. His premiered work, “all i really want to do is…” designed the space with vinyl record covers by his five female ensemble.

Each aspect of the production was well thought out and clear and most of it was done by Mr. Daniels himself. His creative use of lighting in an unconventional space, his sequencing and compilation of music, and his choreographic abstraction of the bond of dancer and music took the audience on a fascinating journey.

The start of this visual journey happened seamlessly as if we had entered a trance. A surge of excitement ensued at the discovery of being on a journey and wondering where we would go next. The dancers weaved the record covers around their bodies and through the space in intricate patterns. The careful relationship between the dancers and record covers made it easy to forget that they were two separate entities. The trance became a time warp with gentle unsuspected shifts.

And then just as unobtrusively as it began it ended. The closure was perfect leaving a lingering sense of the journey.

For an opportunity to see the work of Jordan Daniels Dance come to “Evening: One” on July 3rd at the Phoenix Center for the Arts.

Moments captured

by Jenny Gerena / X&O Photography