"Above" - Dancing Wheels Company
On Friday night, more than 2000 guests enjoyed the free annual Dance Showcase presented by the Community Engagement & Education Department at PlayhouseSquare. Nine local companies performed, along with two principal dancers from Twyla Tharp’s new Broadway musical, Come Fly Away, featuring the legendary vocals of Frank Sinatra.
African Soul International led off the night with a rousing and energetic performance that had the audience clapping along. Fluid movements characterized Djalidong, a traditional dance of the Mali Empire used to welcome kings and royalty.
The Dancing Wheels Company presented Above, a dance of slow grace accompanied by haunting music. The audience was delighted to see Mary Verdi-Fletcher perform the piece out of her wheelchair, a special experience for everyone in the theater.
Staccato beats, tinkling bells, traditional costumes and quick footwork made up the traditional Indian dance Lasya, presented by Shri Kalaa Mandir.
With a powerful and grounded performance, The Greene/Medcalf Movement Project dedicated Reflections of to educators. Their performance was an excellent example of modern dance, projecting a feeling of weight and the pull of the earth while dancing in bare feet and simple costumes.
Inlet Dance Theatre brought the ebb and flow of the tide and swirling water to the stage in Water. Known for non-traditional partnering in their performances, Inlet did not disappoint.
The “ups and downs” and “gives and takes” in the life of a couple were explored in a light-hearted and upbeat tango-esque encounter, A Tango Vignette, by Dance/Theater Collective.
Continuing the exploration of relationships, Neos Dance Theatre, in their Dance Showcase debut, depicted various aspects of falling in love, being frustrated by love, being part of a couple and the other unpredictable layers of love in Lickety-Split. The quirky performance brought out appreciative laughter from the audience and was quite different from any dance performance I’ve seen before.
In a frantic show of athleticism during Island, Sara Whale took us to the place a woman goes to inside herself that is simultaneously sanctuary, jail, comfort and burden.
Dancing to the legendary Maurice Ravel score Bolero, Verb Ballets performed the dramatic ballet of the same name, blending Indian and modern dance styles into an intensely rigorous and impressive mix with an imperial feel.
To conclude the evening, Ashley Blair Fitzgerald and Anthony Burrell, principal dancers from Come Fly Away, performed Tharp’s sexy choreography set to the Sinatra classic “That’s Life.”
To learn more about appreciating dance, please visit playhousesquare.org/danceedu
Cindi
Tags: Cleveland, Come Fly Away, Dance Showcase, Dancing Wheels Company, Inlet Dance Theatre, Neos Dance Theatre, PlayhouseSquare, The Greene/Medcalf Movement Project, Twyla Tharp, Verb Ballets
