NOVA Chamber Music Series’ Dance in the Desert concert (March 10) was perhaps the season’s most challenging for the musicians but the set of five magnificently performed works, which included a world premiere, also was among the most easily accessible for the audience.
For the concert finale, the world premiere of Laura Kaminsky’s Desert Portal was a delightful celebration. As a multimedia piece of dance theater, every component fit perfectly and clearly marked the natural transitions during a day in the desert — from the six musicians to the visual projections of work by internationally renowned artist Rebecca Allan and to the quartet of dancers.
As noted in the preview at The Utah Review, Kaminsky composed the piece for the planned 2020 inaugural of Arizona State University’s desert humanities initiative but it was scrapped when the pandemic shut down all in-person events. The work was set to be performed as a procession with desert rocks being carried by audience members, which would be signaled and led by a drummer. Dancers and musicians would walk in rhythm to their places, and would encircle the audience members, while projections of art images by Allan would provide the visual entertainment before the event began.