‘By the Sea’: Rendering the ’30s and ’40s
Montclair State’s 2016 “Works a Foot” performance proved that dance has enormous potential to break the conventions of traditional entertainment. Maxine Steinman, in her nostalgia-inducing piece, “By the Sea,” proves that dance is as capable of telling a story as words are. A piece that is light-hearted and reflective of a budding modern America, the dance is set to The Roulette Sister’s “Coney Island Washboard,” Ada Jones and Billy Watkins’ “By the Beautiful Sea,” and The Barry Sisters’ “Coney Island.”
“By the Sea” premiered in 2011, when the “Works a Foot” and “Danceworks” programs centered on an “Americana” theme. “I grew up in Brighton Beach in Coney Island,” Steinman, a Brooklyn native, said. “I felt like, ‘Well, that’s my Americana.’”
The granddaughter of Yiddish immigrants, Steinman wanted to capture not a modern-day Coney Island, but Coney Island in its “heyday” — Coney Island in her grandparents’ time. Think: the Coney Island Saoirse Ronan and Emory Cohen visit in John Crowley’s “Brooklyn.”
The dancers wore vintage bathing costumes, which brought to life the beach that thrived during the early twentieth century, before World War II influenced its decrease in popularity. Steinman’s dancers — all Montclair State students — were vibrant and enthusiastic, grinning from ear to ear throughout “By the Sea.” Steinman captured Coney Island through the visually stunning way her dancers enacted carnival rides — at some points imitating the spin of a carousel and the waves of a roller coaster. They also posed for group photographs and “swam” across the stage.
In choreographing the dance and researching for the piece, Steinman came across videos of Coney Island and fell in love with them. She decided to compile and edit the clips into a background that would serve as a canvas for the dance. “I didn’t really know anything about video editing or sound editing or anything, but I bought this program called Pinnacle…and I formulated the whole thing,” she said. The videos were projected behind the dancers, featuring beachgoers of the early twentieth century and iconic images of the Coney Island boardwalk — complete with roller coasters, teacups, and carousels. They were narrated by what sounded like a radio announcer, with the Cary Grant-esq transatlantic accent we’ve come to love and romanticize.
Even though the piece is inspired by the culture of the early twentieth century, the choreography is modern. “A lot of choreographers use music from different eras and times,” Steinman said. “It’s how you be creative with it.”
The dance is largely comprised of the Limón technique, which Steinman specializes in. The technique was created by José Limón, a modern dance and choreography pioneer, and Doris Humphrey, a dancer and choreographer of the early twentieth century. It’s characterized by fall and rebound; suspension and breath; opposition and fluidity.
Melody Marti, a senior dance major and performer in “By the Sea,” explained that the Limón technique “goes with gravity, versus ballet, which opposes gravity….That’s why in ballet, everything’s so upright, and then in modern, everything is grounded and earthy.” The choreography was fluid — evocative of the push and pull of waves.
Marti’s cousin, Madelyn Perez, who was in the audience opening night, said, “I really enjoyed the Coney Island piece, because although the theme was obvious — with the time period costumes and music — the moves were subtle; a pleasure to watch.”
The “theme” makes the dance feel like musical theater or jazz, but it isn’t. Steinman’s combination of modern technique with the music, costumes, and tone that she did created a theatrical experience that is inordinately unique.
“‘By the Sea’ was exciting to be in,” Marti said, “because there was a story already embedded in it. I felt like because there was already a base for what it was about — immigrants going to Coney Island; the Yiddish music; the 1930–40s feel — the process of finding a character was easier.”
Marti, a petite dancer at 4’11”, enacts a child playing with a bucket and pail in imaginary sand during the performance. She emits a childlike innocence and curiosity, poking the toe of a nearby stranger laying on a beach towel. Then, her father comes to scold her, dragging her away as she is chased by the now-irritated sunbather.
“It’s interesting because it’s not like Maxine was like, ‘This is who you’re going to be, this is your story,” Marti said. “[Maxine] was like, ‘Be a character, and just act it out — you’re having a fun day at the beach in Coney Island.’”
“By the Sea” is not musical theater, but its characters, music, and images narrate an American story. “Some dance is entertainment. Some dance is a little more thought provoking,” Steinman says. “For me, as a choreographer, I love when people go away and still think about what they’ve seen…That’s more what I’m looking for. To have the audience go away with some kind of sensation, thought, essence, feeling; so it’s not only about the spectacle.”
For audience members who were mindful during “Works a Foot,” Steinman’s piece superseded spectacle. The film offered an authenticity and ethos to the epoch she strove to capture; seamlessly blending movement and media in a way that illustrates the potential for dance, outside a theatrical context, to tell stories.
