How do Twitter, text messages, emoticons, jazz, hip-hop, Nat King Cole, Skype and dance come together? They don’t, but in “Stardust,” written, choreographed and directed by David Roussève, all of these elements share the same stage. Unfortunately, these many elements stand-alone rather than mesh together into a unified and cohesive narrative.

“Stardust” takes the audience on a journey of the dreams, joys, stumbles and falls of a gay black teenager of the 21st century, Twitter generation. A sequence of musical juxtapositions—Nat King Cole’s playful, romantic jazzy pieces and Sabela Grimes’ hip-hop compositions—reflects the contrasts of emotions through the character’s trials and tribulations. Ten dancers (from Roussève’s company REALITY) portray the single character; but he, himself, never makes an appearance on the stage.

A narrative develops from a series of text messages typed by the character that are projected onto screen. The text is juxtaposed with surreal, bizarre imagery. The exposure of the character’s unanswered texts to a stranger—who is the protagonist’s hope in finding acceptance in the world—invites the audience to the depths of his personal story.

The large white Sans-serif type text projected on a black screen becomes personified expressions on stage through the dancers. Technology often conveys distraction or separation, but Roussève reveals that technology (in the form of text messages) can, in fact, be emotional and intimate. Powerful angular movements portray the expressions communicated and extended beyond the arms, legs and eyes of the performer to the audience but become repetitive over the 80-minute program. Moreover, the dancers were more distracting than the technological elements of the piece leaving eyes glued to the screen after a certain point.

The lighting design (Christopher Kuhl) however is a work of art that reinforces but does not distract from the ongoing storyline. The feelings of the character’s hopefulness and despair emerge from the contrast of shadows and highlights casted on the dancers. Furthermore, the shadows casted on the walls and floor during some scenes looked as though they are dancing with the performers, adding another fascinating dimension.

“Stardust” embodies a new form of expression encompassing layers of visuals, music, text and dance. Roussève is an interdisciplinary storyteller. He uses different mediums to present a complex character and intense themes throughout the show, but at times the transitions feel rough, muddy and abrupt to the eyes and ears. Perhaps this traffic jam of layers experienced through the senses are meant to be part of the experience—to feel the chaotic state of mind the main character is in—but in the end,there is still a yearning for more integration and more connection. Though this interconnection was never fully achieved, "Stardust" leaves its audience with a hopeful feeling towards the potential of future interdisciplinary productions.

“Stardust” is playing through September 29 at REDCAT (631 W 2nd St, Los Angeles). Tickets are $20-$25. For more information visit REDCAT.org.

More coverage of the Radar L.A. Festival 2013 can be found here.

You can contact Contributing Writer Lois here.