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Travesty Dance Group @ Weathervane, Akron 4/10-11 It is always a pleasure to witness the creative, quirky, and thought-provoking works of Travesty Dance Group and the performances presented on April 10 and 11, 2009 at the Weathervane Community Playhouse in Akron, Ohio certainly did not disappoint. Artistic Directors Kimberly Karpanty (Cleveland) and Karen Stokes (Houston) with guest choreographer, Joan Meggitt (Antaeus Dance, Cleveland), brought the audience a spectrum evening from downright wacky humor to thoughtful and dark explorations. The Artistic Directors, although working from two separate cities, have a knack for bringing together dances that share a cohesive approach in theme, use of vocabulary and text, and outstanding execution, all the while offering the audience a very rich and diverse experience.

Straight Forward and Slightly Off-Kilter, a work danced and choreographed by Karpanty and Meggitt, opened the evening and clearly set the tone for the lighter side. Danced with a tongue-in-cheek stoicism to the contemporary strains of composer Steve Reich, the two lead the audience on a path that evoked images from Watership Down to Frog Meets Toad to the Tortoise and the Hare. Suggestions of animal gestures were comfortably nestled among large movement phrases that revealed the odd and unpredictable relationship of these two creatures. At times completely ensemble, at others fraught with unapologetic competition, the final image of a mid-air sprint of Karpanty over the back of Meggitt put the perfect button on this whimsical and eccentric journey.

Interlude choreographed and performed by Stokes, carried the audience to the other end of the spectrum with a dark and poignant exploration. Utilizing text from Edna St. Vincent Millay and the music of Yanni Tierson, Stokes’ performance through speech, song and dance gave full realization to the work’s sense of loss, hopelessness and entrapment. The lighting designed by Rosie Cruz was particularly effective in capturing the palpable and haunting message of this work echoed by Millay’s text “time does not bring relief.”

Stokes evoked potent images of a Dickensonian flavor in her work Distreston. The performance of her fine Houston ensemble, Kara Ary, Mechelle Flemming, Thomas Henderson, Erica Lewis and Catalina Molnari, induced images of poverty and despair blended with ironic humor through the effective use of costume, song, text, and film projection, all impressively created and designed by Stokes. From the words “How do we slow this thing down?”, lip-synched by the dynamic Flemming, to the final projection of the dissolution of the dancers’ faces with eyes closed, the sense of futility was delivered with wry humor and resonated as a timeless question as relevant today as yesteryear.

Go on, then gave Karpanty open rein to deliver her particular brand of comedy through a delightful trio of Cleveland dancers Rachael E. Fox, Heather Jacobs and Sara Noëlle Perry. Danced to the original text score by Claudia Howard Queen, these three unique characters explored the world of words and their myriad of meanings, literal to abstract, with physical clarity and charming wit. The costumes by Cara Barker, the ‘other-worldly’ hair-dos, and the over-the-top quirky vocabulary were brought to life through this threesome who was spot-on in their pristine timing and their refined execution of Karpanty’s inventive movement.

Dawning, a premier work by Karpanty, offered a powerful palette of contrasting images of struggle and release. Clothed in white, dancers Dave Burrington, Fox, Jacobs, Karol Jackson-Bostick and Ashely Race, appeared as apparitions caught in the disparate worlds of group interdependence distinguished from entrapment and individual aloneness versus liberation. Choreographed to the textured backdrop of music by Slow Six, this talented ensemble brought emotional depth to match Karpanty’s strong physical vocabulary, particularly notable in the poignant duet by Fox and Burrington. The final image of a collapsed figure at the feet of the group was one of the most memorable of the evening.

Karpanty’s Lachen and Weinen (laughing and crying) choreographed to three songs ranging from a Korean folk song to the classical renderings of Schubert, was an inventive duet exploring innocence and friendship between two young men. Dancers Brandon Hall and Sabatino A. Verlezza set off on a sensitive exploration of their relationship which evolved into an unexpected, amusing and vivacious romp. The tall dancers and Karpanty’s choreography were effectively complemented by the unusual and intriguing long skirts designed by Tasha Walls. Hall and Verlezza exuberantly fulfilled the demands of this choreographer’s unique movement style as well as the need for split second transitions between sensitivity and comedy.

The final work, Stoke’s Raw Silk, set against the upbeat music by Bill Ryan, gave way to an exploration of youthful and carefree ensemble work. Dancers Ary, Flemming, Lewis and Molnari brought a genuine jubilation to their performance appropriately ending the evening with a sense of celebration among the dancers themselves and their interaction with the music.

Travesty Dance Group, in the capable and gifted hands of Karpanty and Stokes, delivered an evening of innovative works, enhanced by the creative lighting of Cruz, and given strong voice by the multi-talented ensemble of dancers. From two cities, these artists united to successfully create an evening with one purpose: the offering of a full gamut of works inspiring artistic reflection, resurgence and renewal.

Visit Travesty Dance Group online at http://www.TravestyDanceGroup.org.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Barbara Allegra Verlezza bverlez1ATkent.edu
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