Review: An Orchestra of Supergiants by BLiPSWiTCH
by David Glen Robinson
Blipswitch is one of those highly talented Austin performance groups that somehow doesn’t make waves on the scene. Instead, they put their high creativity into one well crafted evening-length show per year, with guest appearances by one or two of their artists in other shows throughout the season. Even so, quality outs, and Blipswitch has within the year received a grant from the prestigious Bennett-Raccah Charitable Fund. This year, the evening-length show was An Orchestra of Supergiants, well worth the wait and satisfying to the large audiences that tracked down the troupe in their non-theatrical venue in North Austin.
Non-theatrical venues are the signature quirk of Blipswitch. The company finds non-theatrical, non-dance, and non-performance spaces across the region and keeps those locations secret until time to announce the show. Their choices have ranged from baseball diamonds to the Victorian Wolf House on Cesar Chavez Street. This year’s show took place on the second-floor central office space and offshoot offices of the west building of Clayton Towers. Next year’s show will be somewhere else.
Based on philosophy with a quote from Polish sci-fi writer Stanislaw Lem, the show explored how winnowing away the husks of quotidian confining life can result in revelations and transcendence far out of scale to expectation of any individual life. Hence the title. For Blipswitch, creating the material and conducting the choreography was a process of responding to the metaphoric echoes of plotless movies. Co-Producing Artistic Director Alex Pruitt commented to me post-show that French New Wave cinema became a source for that unusual inspiration landscape. Choreography built up fundamentally from a clear empty state, similar to that of deep meditation, demonstrates the company's bravura and great confidence in their skill. The results did not disappoint.
An Orchestra of Supergiants opened slowly. The performers made sequences of everyday, pedestrian tasks, with a few artful movement passages scattered about the room. In small offshoot rooms, art installations of corporate equipment and formal office clothing suggested an atmosphere of contemporary office work. That scene gradually dissolved into dances of contemporary patterns in solos, duets, trios, quartets, and full ensemble passages. Small movement sequences proceeding into or out of the small offices grew seamlessly into strong dances that persisted for minutes. It was clear that the choreographic choice frequently was to allow sequences/stories the time needed for growth and change. Most professional dancers find such a choreographic approach a luxury, one that heightens their creative contributions. THe commitment apparent on the faces of the dancers was reflected in the power and control of their movements.
Michael Brown arranged and composed the music and showcased a longish piece in live performance near the middle of the show. Live performed music is nearly indispensable in contemporary dance programs, and Blipswitch enjoys the great benefit of Brown and friends providing music for its performances.
This brief appreciation cannot list and describe the movements of the entire cast. The work of only two can be highlighted here, one performed by Ty Graynor and Lisa Schreck. They danced a powerful duet halfway through the performance went on to several other passages with the other cast members, all of whom were skilled and well-prepared. Their dance with the others gave us a memorable experience.
Blipswitch choreographers Taryn Lavery and Alex Pruitt continue to surprise the Austin dance community. They do so with their innovative approaches to locations and the choreographic staples of movement, shape, and gesture. Blipswitch is a bit hard to follow venue-to-venue, but finding its next performance space is a large part of the adventure. And finding it means you're always rewarded with exquisite dance.
An Orchestra of Supergiants
by Blipswitch ensemble
BLiPSWiTCH
September 5 - 26, 2026
Clayton Towers, Clayton Lane, Austin
