In “Homeland”—the new dance theater piece by collaborators Michael Estanich and Lucy Riner—dancer Daiva Bhandari goes on a Proustian revel; she is a woman at play in the fields of memory, dancing in and out of an ensemble that is at times a wild meadow, a stable of horses or a quiet night at storytime. Her monologue—composed by Estanich and a few collaborators—narrates snapshots from a pastoral childhood: clinging to a mother’s leg, walking alone in silent snow. Nurturing tenderness resonates in both language and in movement that masterfully straddles the line between abstract and indicative. The interplay of verbal and visual language adds a necessary level of poetry to the sweet, yet simple episodes in the rose-tinted life of a country girl. Moments that toe the saccharine line are redeemed through marrow-deep sincerity. This is wide-eyed, winning Americana of yesteryear interpreted through contemporary bodies. The aesthetic is matched by an American roots music score and punctuated by a tree of lights at upstage center. (Sharon Hoyer)
At the Hamlin Park Fieldhouse, 3035 North Hoyne, (773)880-5402. Thursday and Friday, January 10-11 and January 17 -18 at 7:30pm. $15.
