Sunday, August 02, 2009

Day 3 -- 7:00 p.m. Time Slot

Show: Holding Patterns

Company: Monica Rodero & Dan Schuchart

Venue: Southern Theater

Die Roll: 6


This is another duo dance company. And they have a great chemistry and sense of play that makes their dancing something behold.

I do have to confess that I liked last year's offering better than I did this year's from this same pairing. Partly this is because I didn't connect with the pieces as much this year. Partly because the chemistry of the two was altered to include a third dancer this year. And partly because the best part of the show wasn't a dance at all.

The best part of the show was a section in which Monica and Dan had a silent conversation via cue cards. It was a conversation split in two. Essentially it was akin to two people breaking the fourth wall with their inner thoughts and their outer declarations, but without ever saying a word. Sadly, all of that was accomplished without any movement other than dropping cards on the floor (one card cleverly noted that they were "making a mess"). Does that mean that the dancing wasn't any good when it is trumped by a comedy routine on card stock? Not at all.

The dances in this show are going to have me thinking for a long time. Partly because they were more abstract in their presentation than other pieces I've recently seen. Sometimes a dance doesn't have to have meaning. Yet, from what I watched, I'm sure that these pieces did have intended meaning. I just haven't figured it all out yet.

I like when a piece of art stays with you for days afterward, and this one will. Once I figure it out, then I'll know better what I thought of the dance parts of the show.

In the meantime, I'll ask you to challenge yourself to the same task. Go see this... we'll hash it out together.

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Dancers find their true calling as silent comedians... and dancers.

Rating: d12 - "Heckuva Lotta Fun"

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