Out of Towners - Dance

We got three dance shows in the mix at the Out of Towners showcase last night.  Well, two full-on dance shows, and a third that just had dance as a big part of its preview snippet.

They were...

Nucleus... and other Cell Bodies - Kelly Rademacher - Southern Theater

Two hydrogen atoms bond with one oxygen atom to make-dance! Get silly and scientific inside our peculiar kinetic bio-textbook for the stage, a bizarre and compelling movement world as seen through a microscope!

The dance groups were pretty innovative in the way they dealt with the preview opportunity.  In the case of Nucleus, they took a show choreographed for the vast proscenium of the Southern and nimbly adapted it to the far less spacious stage (and multiple levels of risers, and odd shape) of the Brave New Workshop.  Points for ingenuity.  The four dancers in long colorful dresses, with brightly colored footstools at the ready, worked together and in opposition to one another's undulating movements accompanied by electronic music.

They have the 7pm slot tonight, Thursday, 8/2, at the Southern, then more shows this Friday and Saturday 8/3 and 8/4, closing up in the middle of the week on Tuesday and Wednesday 8/7 and 8/8.

The Dust - Core Project Chicago - Patrick's Cabaret

Explore contemporary myth and belief through the archetypes of Death, Fate, Memory and Man. Using dance, poetry, experimental music and visual art, we'll confront the heaviest of thoughts: our own mortality.

Whoever thought to tap the dry comedic talents of Core Project Chicago's company manager is a great judge of how to do a preview.  Unable to fit your dance on the small stage?  No problem, put your company manager in one of the costumes, have her simulate some of the moves all the while talking to the audience with a tone of voice that has "eyeroll" built-in.  While she ran through the moves of her non-dance routine, the company manager entertainingly fed us all the information we would need to come and see the show.  She also sardonically assessed the content of the show when she shared that she had been instructed to come out, roll around on the stage, "and rub fake dust on myself."  "We... and by we I don't mean me, because this is ridiculous."  The thing was perfectly constructed.  She warned us her limited repertoire included a cartwheel, a pelvic thrust and a couple of jokes.  We got the laughs, the pelvic thrust generated more, and then she cartwheeled off stage.  Preview complete.  Their company manager was a great ambassador.  I now know the company as a whole has a great sense of humor, and that's a good thing to know about a Fringe show.

Their first performance is Friday 8/3 at 5:30 at Patrick's Cabaret

The Habit - Wilson Loria - HUGE Improv Theater

In a daring look at a religious woman facing the crossroads of her life, The Habit guides its audience from the familiar images of docile convent life to a path sprinkled with hints of a more profane one.

"Vapor poured from the nostrils of the gigantic machines"

This is more solo show than dance piece but movement is a big part of what Loria does here.  Transformation is another big part of what he's up to, as he starts the preview in full nun regalia and then ditches that outfit for a white linen suit and hat combo, culminating in an energetic soft shoe routine.  While it didn't necessarily share a lot in terms of plot, the preview definitely gives you the sense of the kind of performer Loria is, and that identity is going to be among the major concerns of his Fringe offering.  Those two very different character looks make for intriguing possibilities.

His first performance is Friday 8/3 at 10pm at HUGE.