“We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness – not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men’s souls … We think too much and feel too little … More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.”
Charlie Chaplin – The Great Dictator
SALT Contemporary Dance premiered its new work Radio Silence on Friday night at Kingsbury Hall. Advertisements for the production have featured clips of 1930’s jazz music and dancers in period costumes, suggesting a nostalgic look at an earlier era. The actual production, however, runs much deeper than nostalgia and poignantly explores humanity’s capacity and desire for happiness while beset by conflict.
Created and directed by Amy Gunter, Radio Silence paints a picture of everyday people striving to be free, happy, and loving in the face of threats such as greed, hatred, economic uncertainty, war, and industrialization. Program notes further explain that all of the SALT dancers contributed to the show’s concept and choreography. In addition to SALT dancers, the production includes dancers from SALT2, BYU Contemporary Dance Theatre, and local studios.
Radio Silence weaves together music from the 1930’s and 1940’s, featuring artists such as Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Ella Fitzgerald, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, and Judy Garland. Identifiable songs include “Pennies From Heaven,” “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive,” and “Moonlight Serenade.” The production deepens its message by interspersing radio clips, an excerpt from A.L. Alexander’s Court of Human Relations, and very carefully chosen words from Charlie Chaplin’s speech at the end of The Great Dictator. Through all of the strife that humanity faces, hope prevails, as suggested in the lyrics to “Over the Rainbow” sung by Judy Garland. The choreography moves fluidly among solo, duo, and ensemble pieces that beautifully convey the production’s message. Dancers execute the choreography well, infusing each movement with full energy and extension. Dominic Brown, Amy Gunter, Allie Renner, and Maxi Riley deliver evocative performances throughout.
I found Radio Silence to be a thought-provoking production that definitely tells a story, but more in the way of carefully nuanced poetry rather than prose. Music from the 1930’s and 1940’s does evoke romantic nostalgia, but it also connotes the gravity of economic struggle and wartime that plagued those years. I knew from the advertisements the type of music that the show would include, and I knew that I would enjoy it, but I was pleasantly surprised and particularly moved by the inclusion of radio clips and the words from Charlie Chaplin’s speech. Combining the music, radio clips, and speech with contemporary dance creates a fresh new lens through which to examine the tension among humanity’s competing interests. We see human beings searching for freedom, happiness, and love while being reminded of their tendencies toward greed and selfishness. These darker tendencies threaten to ruin the attainment of what human beings most desire, yet sustaining hope and striving to be and to do better are the antidote. Radio Silence is both timeless and timely as its message resonates profoundly with daily news of economic struggle and war in our own time. In this way, the production is not only a lens, but also a mirror, inviting us to examine ourselves, our neighbors, and our world and to increase our hope, empathy, and compassion.
I highly recommend seeing Radio Silence if you are able to do so. One performance remains scheduled for tonight, Saturday, October 21, 2023. Click here to purchase tickets and to review upcoming productions sponsored by Utah Presents.
The Good Life 
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