Izzie loved Revolutionary. She says you should go!

i do acknowledge the boldness of attempting a retrospect compilation / biography / acting/dance extravaganza–as soon as i saw the description, i knew i must go.

The Writing: The entire show is a plodding pairing of overly long monologue/narrative followed by a short dance number while the narrator looks on. The writing seems to attempt to be in the style of the worst sort of History Channel introductions, and by that i mean “the year was blah blah blah, twinkies were in style, my socks were on tight, but the point i’m getting at is…”

Unfortunately, each monologue in turn uses the same rhetorical devices becoming quite painful quite quickly. 10 minutes of this would have been okay. After 10 minutes, come on, y’all…

The Acting: The narrator, nonetheless, had a certain magic about her, without which the pain of the mathematic structure of the performance would have been crippling. There were issues with garbled accents, and distractions from excessive arm posing. And the attrocious city-and-name dropping in the script made the narrative sometimes painful to hear, but it was delivered astoundingly well. The narrator also hung on every moment in the dance. Or at least she seemed to, as opposed to pretending or just waiting. I found her engaging to watch, although at times perplexing to listen to.

The Production: During the first monologue my first thought was, “oh shit, they’re going to use that scrim to add dancers and advance the plot… oh shit! oh shit!!” They didn’t. The NOT scrim was their backdrop. Monologue. Dance. Monologue. Dance. Monologue. Dance.

The Dancing: The first/last dancer (uh… the 30-something one) truly embodied the words she followed. It’s like she “got it,” if that makes sense–her relationship with space was as Isadore described her intentions. The other two… eh…

Not knowing Duncan, but for the narrators portrayal of her, i found myself agreeing with her diatribes on dance theory… unleashing the organic, the internal, intrinsic inspirations, etc. The Tao in dance. And yet i’m laughing at her objections to her critics, because the choreography (if historically valid) WAS, in fact, overly simple, and mathematic, and not often reflective of the grand talk behind it. Poor Isadore… i wonder if we’re all unwilling to see what our critics see?

Overall: This was a bold and applaudable project to undertake. I urge that if intended for post-Fringe export, that it be re-written and that the production itself get an overhaul to try and move the action along with more speed and variety. If not minor dance during narration, try breaking up the monotony with a scene or two of someone other than the narrator discussing Isadore and narrating her life. Or replace some narration with images? Or just let the dance speak for itself?

And let us not forget…

Folks who don’t have the “Fringe = community theatery” thick skin may hate this.

Folks who don’t feel a spiritual connection with dance or the elements may hate this.

Folks who are aficionados of outstanding dance, and thus experience no vicarious living through watching ok dance, may hate this.