Day 5: 7:00 p.m. Time Slot

Show: Palms Up
Die Roll: 16
Venue: Xelias Aerial Arts Performance Studio
Company: Xelias Arieal Arts Performance Company

This dice-rolling thing is getting to be an adventure and a half. I had about 20 minutes to make it from the Brave New Workshop to the other side of town. I made it with 5 minutes to spare. The house wasn't even open yet. The traffic through downtown very well may have been the best I'd ever seen in the 6 years that I've been back in the Twin Cities. Unfortunately, by being there a little early, I had to wait outside on this chilly summer (?) evening. The Xelias studio doesn't have a lobby. I would have killed for a lobby.

As a preface for the rest of my comments, I can't do aerialism at all. It is somewhat foreign to me. I feel much more comfortable reviewing acting, directing, writing, dancing, even painting. I can do those things to varying degrees of success. But Aerialism is a different animal. It is beautiful, and I enjoy watching it, but it leaves me a little lost for what tosay about it. Especially on the technical side of things. As an audience member it makes me work harder to figure out exactly what I might be watching.

This performance had two parts. A short prologue-type of performance that seemed to be about the artform itself, that is, to introduce the audience to the types of things they might be seeing the rest of the hour. The second, longer piece was a combination of many artforms. Aerialism was melded with beat poetry, as well as dance, and film clips. The first set of images created by the company led me to believe that the piece was about childhood in all its stages. Two artists folded paper airplanes from atop wall-mounted platforms, while two womentumbled slowly down the ropes in fetal position like pre-born youths. The women reciting the poetry was also running in place and hanging from a trapeze in a way that was reminiscent of kids on a playground. So, for about 10 minutes I was convinced that is what the piece was about. However, then there was a ball of twine being wrapped around a giant globe/cage, and people climbing up a rock wall, and someone had a structure of branches on their head, creating shadows through which the others moved. After all was said and done, I had no idea what I'd just watched, but I liked it. I still have a feeling that it was about our lives and their development, that childhood played a major part in it, but beyond that, I'm not really sure.

I'd invite just about anyone to go see this show and to explain it to me further. This show did what I ask all Fringe shows to do. It challenged me to think and feel. However, I'm clearly not done thinking about it, and now I'm feeling confused. Go see it, then e-mail me if you have thoughts. I honestly would like to know what others have figured out about this performance.