Secreto y Malibu: Diana Szeinblum

Secreto y Malibu: Diana Szeinblum

Standing on a roof in culottes and high heels, toes over the edge, a woman braces for her own suicide, while another unceremoniously tidies the patio below. The same two women later rub onions into their eyes to make themselves cry. Then, while one plants herself into the ground next to a tree, the other urinates on a square of newspaper. These are just some of the riveting, unnerving images in Secreto y Malibu, choreographed by Argentine artist Diana Szeinblum. Shocking as these moments are, in context they illustrate a rare depth of closeness between two secluded people. The cathartic power of the piece lies in the intricate relationship between the women, revealed by Szeinblum's cutting-edge choreography and the bravura of dancers Leticia Mazur and Ines Rampoldi. The dancers gouge unpredictable shapes into the space with precise, synchronized movements. They battle, whisper secrets, and console each other with a distinctly feminine intimacy. The surprise entrance of a male figure into the world of Secreto y Malibu dramatizes this closeness. The man is not listed in the program and never returns; he simply enters, briefly seduces each woman, and exits. But after the ripple caused by his intrusion dies down, Secreto and Malibu's relationship takes its place again as the crux of their world. The piece captures the bittersweet complexity between women, be they sisters, lovers, or friends, who know each other perhaps as well as they know themselves.