Tom's Life Bits

It was a very hot night. The car thermometer was reading 100 at 7:30 PM on the way to Duke. We had a fun evening of MFA performances which were wonderful. We arrived and there was some kind of Flash mob dance going on. Dancers were everywhere doing movements in the lobby. this continued into the theater when performers danced down the aisles while people were still filling the theater. The lead dancer shed her dress next to my seat as she entered and went on stage in bra and panties. Hers was an electronic number called “through”. A matric of blue lights was locatred on the back wall. The lights and different tones were set off by her motion and by sound, specifically a guy playing drums. A troupe of dancers later joined her forming various shapes and pairings as they created lights and sounds. They then danced with the lights and sounds they created in a loop. Second number was “Urban Nature” where 3 woman danced to static performing various motions. The last before intermission was “On Your Skin” where a video of a dancer is projected onto a dancer. She absorbs the video and dances through life. At the end she returns into a hole in the screen swallowed up. After the intermission “Plainspoken” involved a solo dancer in a white flowing suit making nice motions, eventually covering the whole stage with dance and then reverting back to her single in place stepping and flowing. The end was spectacular. It started with congo drums and the African Dance company processing into the auditorium ending up on stage with a rousing African Dance. Switch scenes to a New Orleans funeral procession swaying slowly until they really get gooing with a dixie beat and a full jazz orchestra. This is joined by the loud sound of congo drums again and about a dozen ADF dancers in a lively performance. Libbie was on her feet waving a white cotton flag passed out to the audience. It was a fun number. I want to see it again!