Kott 1
Dark Matters
Gabrielle Kott
Dance 467
Professor Cunningham
4/17/13
Kott 2
Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite and her company Kidd Pivot Frankfurt RM have
been dazzling audiences with original pieces since its creation in 2001. “The company is now
based in Germany, where its creator spent five years in William Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt”
(Rocco, C5). One of Pites’ most stunning pieces is Dark Matters, an hour and half long piece set
with 6 dancers that premiered on April 24, 2009 at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Ontario
(Gauthier, B4). Pite says that this piece is a story about manipulation, control, love, need,
creation and destruction (Pite, Biennele). When choreographing this piece Pite would give her
dancers instructions such as fall to the floor and reverberate off two times but in slow motion
(Pite). From small improvisation instructions and more conventional choreographic phrase
building Pite constructed Dark Matters (Pite). In this piece she opens with a theatrical first act of
a man and a puppet as they struggle against one another. “Act II is more conventional. Pite and
her five dancers move around a naked stage bathed in hazy blue light. This is more like it:
inventive, aggressive choreography, precise, electric dancing” (Gauthier, B4). In this piece
many of her themes become increasingly clear as the development of manipulation happens in
the group of dancers. Pite wants to make a link between manipulation and unseen force (Pite,
Biennele). Through the course of the piece a story line develops from four duo’s that show the
struggles of interpersonal relationships with regards to manipulation, control, love, creation and
destruction.
In act one of Dark Matters it begins with a theatrical performance about a man and a
puppet he creates that comes to life. While the puppet was controlled by four other masked
Kott 3
dancers, this section of the piece is a duo between the creator and the puppet. The duo portrays
the dichotomy of creation and destruction. The creator is seen cutting out a cardboard axe as a
way to arm him against the puppet that has begun to turn on him. The puppet tries to destroy the
set so the creator grabs him and traps it under a stool. The puppet attacks the man and they begin
to fight in an over-dramatized kung-fu battle. The puppet grabs the scissors and stabs the creator
repeatedly until he is dead. From the battle scene it is reminiscent of Frankenstein by Mary
Shelley. The battle of creator and creation about power and control is vividly clear as seen
through the death of the creator. The puppet is a representation of the choices that are made in
life and how they lead to either the success or destruction of life. The man’s choice to create the
puppet and bringing it to life ultimately was the wrong choice because the puppet began to be
