On the evening of the 8th June 2024 I attended a Dance Show event at Lipa’s Paul McCartney Auditorium to see a show titled Amargosa, Directed by Emma Annetts and Kristine Berget. This was the name given to the Second Year Dance Students Summer performance. A bit of context at this point.. Amargosa has been inspired by the life of Marta Becket and the legacy of The Amargosa Opera House. The purpose of this piece is to pay homage to Marta’s creative vision and inspiring journey. Marta Becket was an American actress, dancer, choreographer and painter. She performed for over 40 years at her own theatre, the Amargosa Opera House in Death Valley Junction, California.
I will fully admit, the fact that this performance was inspired by Marta Becket and even Marta Becket herself.. I knew next to nothing about. Except seeing a few months ago, what looked to be a documentary programme about the Amargosa Opera House. But after doing some research prior to the show, the theatre and the life story of Marta Becket has really taken me.
The building itself was part of a company town which was designed by architect Alexander Hamilton McCulloch and was build between 1923 and 1924. The complex also included a 23 room hotel, dining room lobby and employee’s headquarters. A cp,,imoty center for dances, church services, movies, funerals and town meetings was also constructed. The structure as a whole still remains in place today, but large sections of it remains disused. The hotel is still operational today, with 16 operational rooms. Reservations are available all year round.
Marta originally discovered the Death Valley town when on her way to an engagement with her husband in 1967, they had a flat tyre and discovered the Theatre there. She decided to relocate to Death Valley and rented the recreation hall, then known as Corkhill, began repairs and changed its name to the Amargosa Opera House. In 1970 Marta was discovered performing to an audience of none and was then featured in a national magazine. This led to international interest in Marta and the Amargosa Opera House. In later years Marta stopped dancing and started performing a weekly show called The Sitting Down Show. Her final show was in February 2012. She passed away on the 30th January some five years later at the age of 92 from natural causes, at home in Death Valley.
What a wonderful life she seemed to have led.
Anyway, back to the Dancing. The Second Year Students from Lipa took on this work and created an outstanding piece of work which was high-power and energetic throughout. But thankfully not so energetic to become manic. It’s energy was well controlled and curated. The choreography and performances throughout were simply amazing. I love seeing the second years… I think that for the most part they tent to perform better than later years. The thoughts and mindset of later years is often fixated on the ‘what comes next’ and sometimes, that can get in the way of the actual performances. Second years don’t seem bothered by this at all, and you can see that through the performances they give.
Standout performers… I think I have to give it to the two female leads Jasmin Reed and Zoe Clark and the main male lead Hugo De Bernardis. But all performers played their parts well and each found their own space on what was a very crowded stage. The dance style was modern contemporary with mixtures of other types mixed in at points for effect. The set design was very simple with a static archway design at the back of the stage, occasionally covering the openings with moving stage pieces or cloths. There was a walkway at the top, on top of the arches that was used sparingly. The rest of the set pieces were movable doors and rocks. I viewed these as moving pieces of time.
The lighting was.. dynamic in this show, which makes a change from the usual side-lighting of modern dance performances. There was a section that was lit with static lights from above, but these lights were flown in and out while lit. There were no intervals or pauses for new sets to come on or off the stage.
This was a very good performance put on by these Second Year Dancers of Lipa. A performance for all to be proud of. I was very entertained, and I would even say.. my interest in Dance, which had been waning over the past few months, has once more been restored. Thank you Lipa.
