Theatre Review: The Purple Flame Burns At Arts on Site

At 12 St Marks Place, rises an opportunity that cannot be missed. A Women Led art residency that does something we forget in the art world: let you grow. Nowadays, especially with social media, it can feel like you should know your art, brand, and even marketing strategy, which makes public growth feel weird and even endangering. This, in some way, is the what The Purple Flame discusses: in a world rushing in motion and changes, what is actual growth. 

Immediately, upon title, I thought of the Violet Flame. According to legend, St. Germaine carried a violet fire within his chest, as proof that his passioned fueled his creativity. Divided in two acts, the colorful, modern dances and even drawings of the first act show the battle to be happy and moving. Between kicks and rigid lines, the dancers flow and square with  choreography: symbolic of our desire to find breathe and youthfulness in a system that can feel very stale.

With pale, off white pants and shirts, the longer, second act has its dancers dragging through motioned chaos: using their bodies to leap and embody the growing stiffness of day to day. Going with the perspective of creativity and one´s brightness, Tessa Fellion´s choreography questions whether we even have a chance to keep it because, at the very least, we have a fight. It is a question I see so many people pummel through as they age: when did you stop feeling like you can do it all?

Beyond the dance, I really just admired the residency. I find it so exciting and so New York any opportunity when artists and a community that struggles to be heard unite: aka women. Experimental and open, the space this residency has created shows the purple flame, as a symbol, will never die. For More info click here.