The Stuff of Art

Wednesday, April 26, 2000

Kunst-Stoff presents "Nostalgia 3000" Todd Dayton SF Weekly Under the direction of Yannis Adoniou and Tomi Paasonen, the dance-art-whatever-else collective Kunst-Stoffhas created an intriguing body of work that's brought together everything from dance to film and from photography to theater in its three years of existence. In company with other multigenre collectives like Capacitor, Kunst-Stoff's performance events aren't meant to be viewed; they're more to be experienced. Film is liberated from the dark and silent theater, dance no longer is confined to the stage, while music orchestrates a seductive pull on the listener. This weekend's "Nostalgia 3000"is a trio of works that seeks to connect past and present while training an eye on what the future holds. Adoniou's world premiere of Yiayia revisits attic-stored memories -- a buried love letter, dusty home movies -- in a piece that sets seven local dancers to Karen Feder's vocals and the words of poet Kevin Donlon. Paasonen's world premiere of Swansong again treads the fragile threads of memory through the lens of classical ballet, splicing dance, aerial feats, electronically altered classical ballet music, and video projection. The group's third act is a site-specific renewal of The Futura Deluxe, which premiered at last year's Burning Man.