What happens when you take the orchestra out of the pit, put it in the path of four dancers and blur the boundary between music and dance?

“StringWreck” is the exciting result – an entertaining and often poignant work of dance-theater that turns tradition on its head as dancers and musicians gleefully abandon their roles to search for new and unpredictable ways to coexist.

Cal Poly Arts presents this innovative evening on April 15 at 8 p.m. in the Alex & Faye Spanos Theatre.
For this riveting experiment in interaction, critically-acclaimed choreographers Janice Garrett and Charles Moulton are joined by an internationally-recognized leader in new music performance, the Del Sol String Quartet.

“StringWreck” is an artistic mix of physical and musical interplay between the performers. Dancers become music stands that take flight with the sheet music. A violinist is lifted high in the air and is soon at the tumultuous center of a fast-moving dance routine. Dancers are driven to madness as they fall captive to the musicians’ capricious tempos. Competition, compassion, communication, misunderstanding, rivalry, harmony – the performers experience all of these as they encounter each other on the stage.

The idea for “StringWreck” was initially envisioned by Garrett and Moulton as a shared repertory concert with live music.  The concept for the evening formed after they reached out to the members of the Del Sol String Quartet and the partners embarked on an unusual journey, adding four dancers to the collaboration.

For Garrett, known for her very humanistic approach to dance, this meeting of the two artistic cultures is simply a creative way to look at the dynamics of human interaction. 

“For me, this is about how people come together,” she explained. “Every aspect of the work is about trying to coexist and thrive with unique voices.”

Like the intimate duet that transpires between one dancer and musician, Garrett’s new 70-minute work reveals the many joys and frustrations of a relationship one cannot live without.

Co-choreographer Charles Moulton said that the intimacy has led to a whole different understanding and examination of music and dance together.

“The nuances and depth are so much greater when you are working with live music," Moulton added. "There’s so much more life to it, and I think that inevitably means there will be lots of improvisation as the dancers and musicians seize the moment.”

Charlton Lee, violinist with Del Sol, seems ready to do just that.

“We’ve been traditionally separated,” he said of the two disciplines. “Musicians are heard not seen, so it’s compelling to be on the stage and choreographed into the piece. It’s a first for us, but we’re really enjoying it.  It’s so accessible with the visual element. It stimulates more of the senses, and it just fits together fantastically.”

Patrons are invited to attend a free pre-concert lecture presented by Theatre/Dance Dept. Emeritus Professor Moon Ja Minn Suhr at 7 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center’s Philips Recital Hall.

Student and adult tickets for the performance are $26 and $32 respectively and may be purchased at the Performing Arts Center Ticket Office, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. 

To order by phone, visit www.calpolyarts.org. Presented in partnership with the InnerState Project, conceived by ODC Dance/San Francisco and made possible through generous funding by the James Irvine Foundation.