Water Meets Fire in 'aquafire' Contemporary Dance Production

Wednesday's Aquafire contemporary dance production at the Corporate Hotel Convention Center delivered on its namesake: the minimalist production simmered coolly. Just three dancers (and one cellist) performed amidst digital backdrops, including clouds and fire, and a finale of fake, glittery snow.

Water meets fire. There are no floods or conflagrations. The elements, embodied by lead dancers Odbayar Batsuuri and Ganchimeg Choijilsuren, negotiate a functional coexistence - they fall in love - challenging perceived differences between fire and water, men and women, traditional society and contemporary society and other commonly acceptedbinaries.

To create Aquafire, the Arts Council of Mongolia organized a collaboration between Batsuuri, a young choreographer and member of the Hedwig Contemporary Dance Company in Chicago, composer Purevsukh Tyeliman, filmmaker Ikhbayar Urchuud, Swiss trumpeter Matthieu Mitchel and American stage and light designer Barry Steele.

The shift in Mongolia from a patriarchal to ideological to democratic society, the creators argue, have given rise to a country still struggling to find a balance between the different value systems that co-exist. The choreography draws on the tensions between generational views of gender, how we come to perceive who we are and the relationships we create with one another.

The show is particularly concerned with the exploration of young Mongolian women's lives, and the social pressures they bear in today's society. The creators note that although the show was born from a uniquely Mongolian perspective, love and gender norms are a universal concern and therefore it is relevant to all audiences.

While these complex themes are difficult to perceive in the production in full, there are telling moments conveyed by the dancers' movements. Leads Odbayar and Ganchimeg are almost constantly entwined - visibly blurring the lines between their male and female bodies. Ganchimeg contorts her petite feminine frame into angular positions, eschewing the stereotypical rounded feminine ideal. Their pas de deux comes off as more tender than sexual.

Odbayar and Ganchimeg frequently control each other's bodies, with one taking the other's arm, leg, waist or even head and moving it to a new position; neither has complete control. Rather, the power balance and dominance shifts throughout the...