Review: “Homesick” by Source Material

 “Homesick” is a dance film piece starring and choreographed by Danielle Agami and directed by Samantha Shay. Based on Agami’s solo theatre piece “Framed”, “Homesick” is described as “a viscerally tangible story of a woman and her compulsive, introverted desire for connection.” This connection is felt spectacularly throughout this powerful work of art.

Starting off with the obvious, the dancing by Agami was incredible. The contemporary movements felt less like a dance being performed and more like a sort of scream of abstract emotion into whatever space the dancers occupied. Which, no matter what that space was, a home, a dirt road, or what looked like the greenhouse section of a large store, they took control of it.

Whether it was the tiniest portion of the space or the entire area, whatever space these dancers wanted to occupy, they did. This piece also had the unique advantage over a live performance in that the camera was able to act as almost another dancer. We follow its movements through hallways and down roads, getting to see these dancers up close and impossibly far away. This added a whole new layer to both the choreography and the story. Shots of the dancer far down at the end of a long hallway are beautiful in a way that a stage could not achieve.

The narrator describes their being two kinds of home, the outer and the inner. This is beautifully illustrated in the two dances that we see. One being a dancer in various locations by themselves moving in such a way that we can see the inner turmoil expressed outwardly, and the other, a partnered dance in the flower/greenhouse section of a store. Here we see them moving with what appears to be a significant other in such a way that bounces back and forth from playful to painful.

You really see the “homesickness” manifest in different ways in each moment. A loneliness within the dancer herself as well as a loneliness in the space she is occupying. Watching the duet between her and her partner, Jordan Klitzke, you really see the dialogue between them as she struggles to understand that loneliness within herself, and her partner struggles to understand it as well. The duet is made all the more powerful when you realize the original piece it was based on was partly inspired by a breakup. All of the emotions of trying to connect and feeling isolated that come with the ending of a relationship are portrayed beautifully here.

This piece was a true collaboration between film, dance, and music. The music for this piece, by ZAAR, was hauntingly beautiful and took up space in its own right. It had a sort of echoing feel that took the loneliness and homesickness to another plane as even the music gives us the sense that there is an isolation in the emotions being felt.

All in all, while only a fifteen-minute piece, fifteen minutes was all “Homesick” needed to deliver a powerful work of art that leaves you with a desire to connect.

“Homesick” was produced by Source Material and directed by Samantha Shay
Cinematography by Victoria Sendra.
With movement and choreography by Danielle Agami
Performed by Danielle Agami and Jordan Klitzke
Music by ZAAR