By John Lyle Belden

On the weekend of January 11-12, Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre presented its fourth iteration of “Melange,” a largely-improvised blending of artistic disciplines by three individuals who had not only not rehearsed, but met one another on the first performance day. At the center is a performer who sings or speaks – the only element that is prepared – while a GHDT dancer interprets the goings-on in dance and a local artist captures an impression on a canvas.

Actor Jean Arnold was at the center of the space, delivering a program of spoken word, poetry and song. At the start she gave a rhythmic recitation of the folk song “The Unicorn” to set the mood of wonder and introspection with a touch of humor.

Compiled and arranged by Arnold, these pieces include a mother’s reflections on children, one she called “Fearless and Fierce,” a passage relating inner peace to world peace, one on “The Dancer,” and one “on Loving.”

The source material, she said, was literally all around us as the big box of a performance space – The Florence at the Academy at Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre – before its recent renovation had various quotes, sayings, poetry, and scripture passages of numerous faiths written below the floorboards and behind the wall surfaces, under the guidance of founder and artistic director Gregory Glade Hancock. Arnold had seen these, she said, and included some in her performance – quoting sources ranging from the Bible to Jimi Hendrix.

GHDT principal dancer Thomas James Mason was a flowing force that moved throughout the performance. He ranged from pure interpretation to moments of interplay with Arnold, when she would, with a mischievous grin, join him for a step or two. At moments, an old-time microphone stand would swirl in and out by Mason at her beckoning.

The dancer seeming to be all over the stage was captured in a number of dynamic poses by portraitist Robert Maurice Smith. In his drawing Saturday evening, Smith also captured Arnold’s energy, including, in a moment of late inspiration, the pages of the script binder that she occasionally held appearing to flow out to merge with Mason’s outstretched limbs. At the end of the performance, host (and GHDT assistant director) Abigail Lesaris auctioned the impromptu artwork with proceeds going to the dance company.  

“I am many things, but I am not quiet,” Arnold said smiling during the performance. Afterward, she noted this was unlike anything she had done on stage and enjoyed the challenge. “I wanted to leave people with something,” she said of her inspired approach.

As with the previous Melange productions, there was an almost polished feel to the unrehearsed proceedings, a confident reflection of artistic professionals. All present understood that this was, like all live theatre, a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

As this posts, there is still today’s performance, 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 12, at The Florence, 329 Gradle Drive, Carmel. See gregoryhancockdancetheatre.org for details and tickets, as well as info on their next show, “Down on the Bayou,” three weekends, Feb. 8-23, at The Florence.