by Kirby Lindsay, posted 16 January 2015
For two weekends at West of Lenin – January 23rd to January 31st – Lelavision will be entertaining, confounding and astounding audiences with their, ‘ExperiMetal’ show. “It’s brand spanking new,” acknowledged Ela Lamblin, Lelavision co-director. Last year, at The Moore Theater, Lelavision performed what Lamblin described as, “more of a retrospective,” but for WofL, “This is all new!”
Entertaining, Touching, Humorous, Surprising…
For the unfamiliar, Lelavision is new, with nothing else quite like this unconventional combination of music, movement, and sculpture. “It’s fun, it’s entertaining, it’s touching, it’s humorous, it’s surprising,” Lamblin said. Jason Staczek, a Lelavision performer, composer and musician explained, “People should prepare to be surprised and delighted!”
Staczek plays music and composes professionally, for rock-n-roll bands and films. For four years now, he’s also performed and composed for Lelavision, a total departure. “There is no genre attached to this,” Staczek observed, “It’s just Ela.”
Lamblin started as a sculptor, and the display of ‘instruments’ at the start of a Lelavision presentation are visually gorgeous. With her dance and choreography background, Lamblin’s co-director, Leah Mann, orchestrates movements used by she and Lamblin, Staczek and their fourth performer Aimee Zoe, to ‘play’ these extraordinary works of art.
The evocative sounds blending together as bodies manipulate the instruments create a performance and entirely unique form of music singularly Lelavision. “Everything is organized around sound. It’s art,” Lamblin explained, “it puts creativity first. It’s not grounded in one media or form.”
“It is edgy, in a lighter, fun kind of way,” Lamblin said, “there is something of the self-indulgent that we avoid. We think about the audience, and their experience, and try to use humor to keep people awake and entertained.” To that end, A.J. Epstein, WofL’s founder, has joined in as an outside eye. He might be called director, as he provides the Lelavision performers feedback on ‘ExperiMetal’ and is, “helping to smooth it out,” Lamblin acknowledged.
‘Much More Organic’
Although, not all of ‘ExperiMetal’ will be rehearsed, choreographed and finalized. This show has pieces carefully composed and choreographed, but they include pieces that rely on improvisation, whimsy and an audience to be complete.
The four Lelavision performers collaborate, from beginning to end. First, they will address themselves to the sculptures created by Lamblin, and improvise their movements as they make music. “It’s all experimentation,” Lamblin said of their process, “We take ideas from what we already know. Some apply and some don’t.”
As he creates the musical sculptures in his studio on Vashon Island, Lamblin explained, he doesn’t follow strict plans. “I try not to have a formula,” he acknowledged, “I spend my time tinkering and experimenting. It is much more organic – learning as you go.” He follows the laws of physics, but not the traditional, or staid, rules of instrumentation. An aesthetic, pleasing look is important, but he will sacrifice looks for sound, and sound for looks. “It’s a weird balancing act, musically,” Lamblin said.
“No one knows how to play them,” Staczek said of the instruments introduced by Lamblin. After presenting a new instrument, Mann and the other performers collaborate with Lamblin, and each other, to decide which movements to use. “Usually you have a suggestion,” Staczek said about working with Lamblin, “and he’s thought two suggestions ahead,” on modifications or playing methods.
“Some are pretty flexible,” Lamblin said of the instruments, “but each requires its own approach.” This is where Mann’s talents really shine, creating fluid, dancer movements that make the eye thrill and the mesmerizing music come alive. “It’s a tall order,” Lamblin allowed of the performance and its combination of acting, performing music and cooperation. “Judge it on just one aspect,” Lamblin said, “it would never hold up. It all holds together.”
Innovations & Experimentation
“Music, machines and bodies in motion,” Staczek said, and it sums up Lelavision nicely. “We’re interested in being innovative and experimental,” Lamblin observed, and that also gets right to the heart of ‘ExperiMetal’.
“You will enjoy it,” Lamblin said, and I would heartily agree. He added that, “If it were easy, everyone would do it.” The imagination he puts on display with these instruments, and the creativity the ‘ExperiMetal’ performers demonstrate in learning to make music using sculpture, can only be witnessed – not explained.
Make sure to take advantage of this rare opportunity to experience ‘ExperiMetal’ at WofL in Fremont during one of the shows January 23rd – February 1st. Tickets can be purchased on-line at Brown Paper Tickets. A few might be available at the door, but expect many of the shows to sell out!
Lelavision is exquisitely unique. See, and hear, this phenomenon now!
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©2015 Kirby Lindsay. This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws. Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited.