Caroline Calouche’s Lingua explores the evolution of language and its ties to movement

When the curtain goes up on Caroline Calouche & Co.’s world premiere of the piece she conceived and choreographed, even Calouche doesn’t know precisely what will be presented.

She and her team may be tinkering with the script of “Lingua,” a performance that melds contemporary dance, circus arts, theater and music, right up until opening night on April 12. And it will be different when it’s performed April 13, too.

Why does it keep changing? Partly because language keeps changing.

At a March 8 rehearsal in Calouche’s rehearsal and classroom space on Monroe Road, dancers used their breaks to tinker with their scripts. (Each one chose a topic to research, write and lead on stage.)

Calouche said everyone has a story about a language quirk, a colloquialism from their hometown or a word that means one thing in one language and something different in another. And every time she tells someone about her current project, they give her a new idea.

“Lingua” is already a multilayered, multidisciplinary performance. It explores how language can influence a person’s perception of the world. But it’s more intricate than that. Calouche adds that it “examines how people who speak different languages perceive time and space.”

She describes it as a “very intelligent show” that can be viewed on multiple levels. “A 6-year-old will enjoy the show for all the aerial work and acrobatics,” she said. Even if the concepts of language, space and time are metaphorically over their heads, there’s still something literally over their heads to capture their attention and imagination.

If you sometimes find modern dance hard to comprehend, don’t worry. “Lingua” includes narration. Actress Iesha Nyree is serving as what Calouche calls a “spoken word MC.” She’s written and edited some pieces for the show and will facilitate the audience’s interaction with the cast.

Through aerial numbers, dance and acrobatics, “Lingua” explores the history and ongoing evolution of all types of language — including those that aren’t spoken. “Even gestures have meaning,” Calouche said.

There’s an audience participation component to it, too.

About 40 premium tickets are available for $35 that give audience members the opportunity to sit on stage and have a close-up view of the action. In addition, the stage has been configured to extend into the audience to facilitate discussions. Audience members’ responses to performers’ questions will impact the dancers’ artistic choices: “Just as language evolves, so does this show from one night to the next.”

This production, supported by a grant from the Arts & Science Council, has been a dream in the making for years. In 2014, Calouche and four dancers created a 20-minute version of “Lingua.” While researching and choreographing the piece, she realized that wasn’t nearly enough time to trace the history of language.

“Lingua” is structured in chapters that focus on sign language, computer language, primate language and a number of spoken languages, including German, Hebrew, Mandarin and Arabic.

Calouche didn’t start with a script. She started with an idea and a brainstorming session.

Each member of the company took on a different aspect of language. Sarah Small researched syntax. Javier Gonzalez looked into language and gender. Sarah Ritchy explored gestures. Other topics include love languages, images vs. the alphabet and dance as a means of communication.

The performers read books and research papers, and they interviewed linguistics professors at UNC Charlotte and UNC Chapel Hill, and a bonobo and chimpanzee researcher in Scotland. They also watched documentaries and listened to podcasts.

While the research was ongoing, they began to choreograph and rehearse.

“I don’t remember how to get on you.”

“Am I supposed to be standing straight up on your back?”

“Put your hand on her thigh. Get anchored.”

These are things members of an aerial and acrobatics troupe say to each other during rehearsal as they climb atop one another, use each other as lifts and props, and twist their way into a larger-than-life pretzel.

Calouche wasn’t directing from the sidelines. She was part of the human pyramid they were building — asking questions, making suggestions. Dropping in on a rehearsal revealed the organic way this show is coming together. The performers are scripting themselves.

The person at the top of the pyramid begins to speak. Gonzalez is dressed in a skirt, defying traditional gender norms. He knows people expect to see a female at the top of a pyramid. The company enjoys surprising their audience — not just with aerial stunts, but with their well-researched content.

“In many languages, nouns are assigned a gender,” Gonzalez told an imaginary audience during rehearsal. “Objects and ideas related to gathering are considered feminine, and objects and ideas related to hunting are considered masculine. Many languages make a huge deal of gender. In French, la — the feminine article — maison means house. You’d sound foolish if you used the masculine instead. It’s not le maison; it’s la maison.”

And that leads to his soliloquy on pronoun use in America today. “He” and “she” are no longer entirely adequate. “They” may be someone’s preferred pronoun.

“Lingua” may be complex, but the company’s wish for what the audience takes away from the experience is simple. “I hope the mostly English-speaking people who see this will become more forgiving and understanding of people coming to this country and struggling with the English language,” Small said. “And that people begin to understand how transgendered people want to be referred to.”

Lingua is at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center’s Booth Playhouse April 12 at 8 p.m. and April 13 at 2 p.m. or 8 p.m. carolinecalouche.org. Tickets ($30-$35) at carolinatix.org.

This story is part of an Observer underwriting project with the Thrive Campaign for the Arts, supporting arts journalism in Charlotte.

This story was originally published April 4, 2019 at 8:25 AM.