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September 19, 2007
tba:07: ten tiny dances
by gl. at 3:07 pm
sven & missed going to tba's "ten tiny dances" last year, so we were determined to go this year, even though it meant going at 10:30 p.m. even so, there was a huge line around the block! i don't see much dance, so it's a treat for me and i was glad to see such a devoted fan base.
it was so packed we stood the whole time. i don't know the names of all the dances because the program they gave us was sort of obtuse and they had rearranged the order, but here are some highlights:
goldfish bowl in 9 segments: performed as interstitials between the other dances, i didn't understand what was happening until the fifth or sixth segment, but when i finally got it i wished i could go back & watch the other segments again, because it was a really sweet story.
everything all the time: this is the kind of dance sven thought he would be seeing more of: inspired by butoh, performers crusted with sand, kicking up sand, while a woman spilled a sand-colored silk trail from her voluminous dress as she receded into the crowd.
milk & honey: an impressive pyramid of vegetation which didn't leave the dancers much room to move, this read like a series of dramatic vignettes rather than a dance. (please, hold your applause until it's over, people!) still, it's hard to beat a performance where popsicles fall from the sky at the end.
dolls: a woman wrestled with 5-7 blow-up dolls wrapped around her waist. it was interesting for the first half, but there was no development or arc.
tiny dancer: energetic, kitschy, maudlin & strangely touching, this melodramatic rendition of elton john's "hold me closer" had a great diversionary tactic to slip a 6-year-old onto stage at the end.
fair weather: using a swing is a pretty good way to transcend the 4x4 platform limit. well, that and a giant wig. this was another performance that felt like a one-act play rather than a dance. there was even rhymed dialogue.
almost every dance needed setup and a major cleanup, which meant we didn't get out until 1:30 a.m. so afterwards went to the original 24-hour hotcake and steak house. it was my first time, so i was happy to discover the flapjacks & hashbrowns are superb, even if the rest of what we had was mediocre greasy spoon food.
posted by gl. | September 19, 2007 3:07 PM | categories: exhibits & events