Day 3 -- 4 p.m. Time Slot

Show: You/Provoke/Me

Company: Same Planet Different World Dance Theatre

Venue: UofM Rarig Center Proscenium

Die Roll: 15


In business there is an axiom that you can get things fast, cheap, and good... but you can only ever get two out of the three at any given time on any given project. With this show I propose a similar axiom with regards to dance: Inspiration, execution, and communication. Choose two out of the three. For any given piece in this concert by "one of Chicago's premier dance companies", one of those three was sacrificed for the other two. Sadly, it was often execution.

Another axiom... this time from NFL commercials a few years back: Amateurs practice until they get it right. Professionals practice until they can't get it wrong.

I came to this show with high hopes. Two reasons... this day of the Fringe was becoming my day of dance, and there was a huge line outside for it. Clearly, people wanted to see this group.

After seeing casebolt and smith immediately prior to this show, I was ready for another terrific dance show. Sadly I was let down.

More often than not, this show sacrificed execution in order to put up pieces that were inspired and communicated with the audience. Now... one can certainly argue that as art, it is accomplishing the most important things that art tried to do and be. However, I offer up the NFL quote again.

This show actually made me angry. Why? I expect professional dancers to be able to tell where the Hell the downbeat is in a measure of music. C'mon! If the choreography is to clap on beat one, then do it. At the most basic level of dance classes and music theory you learn to count rhythm. Eventually, if you can't, then someone should sit you down and say "Honey... I know you love to dance, but maybe this isn't the career for you."

All too often parts of the dances that were clearly choreographed to be in unison and yet they were so sloppy that when one of the pieces ("Hearts on Fire") had sections in which one dancer was supposed to be at odds with the other three who were supposed to be doing the same thing, it was hard to tell that that was what was going on.

The first, third, and fifth pieces of the concert were consistent in one thing... their inconsistency. And the problem is this. They were all very interesting and innovative pieces. They were fun. They connected. And yet, they all appeared to be under-rehearsed. What's worse, the piece called "Sextet" was internally inconsistent. Some moments were clearly what had been worked on far more than the others.

Dancer Elizabeth Bergman put forth a piece that was executed wonderfully. In fact, I'm not sure anything was sacrificed in "Watch Me Harder"... although I might argue that the communication aspect was lacking for a bit. One dancer who I've now known for a couple of years spoke of one of her students as being technically proficient, but lacking soul. I would say that Bergman didn't lack soul here, but from time to time the soul of what she was doing was pushed back and away from the technical accomplishments of the dance. Yet, most of the time, her body was communicating and executing with inspiration.

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Inspired at times. Sloppy at times. Often the same times.

RATING: d10 - "Worth Going To"