"Immersion on the Dance Floor"
By Sydney Burrows
When Cat D. Olson creates work for her immersive dance theater company, Cat + the Coyote, her first thought is not about technique or the coordination of music and movement. Instead of tailoring the piece to the stage or a topic like many post-modern dance creators, Olson focuses on the relationship between performer and audience. This perspective is especially important for immersive theater, which brings audience members into a space other than a traditional theater and invites them to be an integral part of the piece...
By Louis Ressel
"Dance Review- 'Dances at MuCCC'"
By Sydney Burrows
...A more contemplative work, “Chapter 38” by Cat D. Olson/CAT + THE COYOTE, showcased a different kind of beauty. Dancing to a Schubert composition, Olson played her body as if it were a musical instrument. She demonstrated complete control, flinging her body to the ground without hesitation and interrupting her long lines with backbreaking arches and collapsing movements.
The opening image of “Chapter 38” contrasted drastically with Olson’s final position, which seemed to demonstrate an evolution and inward reflection of Olson as an artist. She began the piece sitting in a chair facing the audience, knees knocked toward each other and arms flung out to her side. Olson’s face wasn’t visible and the sight was almost unnerving at first, as her torso was remarkably arched over the back of the chair.
In the final image before the stage went black, Olson stood tall on the chair, again facing the audience. Her feet were turned out in the first position of classical ballet technique, arms above her head rounded in fifth position. Traditionally, this silhouette is considered beautiful, but Olson showed that the shape felt forced in her body. In contrast, the chaotic, animalistic, modern movement of the rest of the work seemed natural — and therefore, more powerful...
Cat 's work featured in the New York Times, British Vogue, Redbull, Shorefire Media, CITY Magazine, Visit Rochester, Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester First, and interviewed on "Connections" with Evan Dawson for WXXI.
By Louis Ressel