|
|
| Sensuous, sassy, provocative dancing |
by Rajkhet Dirzhud-Rashid -
SGN A&E Writer
Makeda Thomas and Camilla A. Brown
May 16
Broadway Performance Hall
It seemed at the end of the evening, the prevailing thoughts on Camille Brown's dance to Nancy Wilson's "Guess Who I Saw Today" were that the piece was both sexy and funny to watch. Dressed in a costume that showed both the character of the man trying to explain why he's late, and the woman listening - who has news for him - Brown kept the audience's attention on the stage as she lithely moved from conversational to confrontational poses as the song progressed. At the end, she got several audience members to give her a standing ovation.
Also part of the first part of the evening (which belonged to Brown, both as dancer and as choreographer), a piece about waiting at a train station and one about two black men who moved from the oppression of slavery to questioning what their positions were in the modern world also intrigued the audience and drew comments from several people after the show, in the Q and A section.
The second half of the evening, which started with a full-screen presentation of Trinidadian dancer/performer Makeda Thomas, gave the audience even more to enjoy and some things to think about, as Thomas appeared on a beach, dressed in a white dress, at times immersing herself in water, then covering herself in mud and again uniting with water by swimming and by running down the beach. This premiere of her newest work, Fresh Water, introduced a dancer who was obviously confident in her abilities, but also who had a playful sense of entertainment that was hard to pull one's eyes away from.
This last was particularly true when Thomas, after the screen went away and the stage at the Broadway Performance Hall started to be covered from a behind-the-curtains fog machine, appeared again in a white costume and glittery white mask.
As in one of Camille Brown's pieces from the beginning of the evening, Thomas also used spoken word - her own voiceover - to punctuate moments in her energetic and haunting dance piece, at times discarding pieces of her costume to a stripped down white "corset" and leggings outfit. The piece spoke of the many peoples who are part of the West Indian diaspora, and their experiences having been "captive people" of several European groups, then finally having more freedom to be the people they are today. The piece ended with Thomas putting the discarded garments, including the glittery, carnivalesque mask back on and disappearing into the created fog behind the darkened stage. Definitely a work that will stay with those who saw it as one of the most beautiful dances to grace a Seattle stage in some time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2009 Film Fest's Gay highlights
------------------------------
Grease, high energy is the word at the 5th Avenue
------------------------------
NFFTY nurtures young filmmakers
------------------------------
Disconnected Picasso misses timing
------------------------------
Pulitzer-winning Rabbit Hole in Seattle
------------------------------
Freak Show: See what's behind the curtain
------------------------------
Maria/Stuart a gutsy production
------------------------------
Ben Folds a madman on the piano
------------------------------
------------------------------
What was the Lawrence v. Texas Supreme Court decision?
------------------------------
Art that will inspire you
------------------------------
SIFF's Gay films, an enormous range
------------------------------
Pop Star on Ice is an interesting vanity piece
------------------------------
Little Ashes' fictional twists dull its impact
------------------------------
------------------------------
Q-Scopes by Jack Fertig
------------------------------
------------------------------
Taking Back Sunday's Matt Rubano rocks out
------------------------------
Northwest News
------------------------------
------------------------------
Activist confrontations
------------------------------
------------------------------
Deep Inside Hollywood - Romeo San Vicente
------------------------------
------------------------------
Book Marks
------------------------------
------------------------------
------------------------------
The news we use
------------------------------
Sensuous, sassy, provocative dancing
------------------------------
Icelandic artist performs in EMP restroom
------------------------------
A Dyke About Town: Progress for "significant otters"
------------------------------
The Sisters have money to give away!!!
------------------------------
------------------------------
------------------------------
------------------------------
------------------------------ |
![[Valid RSS]](images/valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed"){kind=small}
post your own information on
http://sgn.org/rss.xml | what is RSS? | 
use Google to set up your RSS feed