Dorrance Dance: Beyond Belief

Foiled again! After seeing the national tour of Mean Girls last week, this post was all but destined to be another review of the show, which I was lucky enough to see on Broadway last fall. But in between seeing the show and writing this post, I attended a Dorrance Dance performance on Tuesday evening.  After that there was no other option: it is impossible not to champion Dorrance Dance. To be clear, I fully support giving Tina Fey money to do whatever she wants to do, so please go see Mean Girls when it stops in a city near you. But, for now, shall we dance?

A stuffy reputation is hard to conquer. Dance is the often seen as the abstract expressionism of the performing arts world because, absent the dialogue of a play or the lyrics of a musical, dance requires that the audience make a lot of interpretations on their own. Interpreting art is often intentionally challenging and forces the audience to look in a mirror and reconcile what they see. But tap dance has always been an easy entry point into Dance. Michelle Dorrance, a MacArthur Genius Grant recipient, and her troupe of dancers are chipping away at that stuffy reputation. It is nearly impossible not to enjoy and be swept up in the percussive fluidity. The dancers move as one but maintain a distinct individuality that allows every audience member to identify with one of the dancers on stage.

Dorrance Dance started the evening with "Jungle Blues." The piece features the entire company dancing to Jelly Roll Morton’s “Jungle Blues” and the choreography instantly transports the audience to a Prohibition era speakeasy somewhere in Louisiana – at least, that’s where I went. The dancers tap, slide and land on their heels and toes and every part of the foot in between. How they don’t all have sprained ankles I’ll never understand. Dorrance talks in a 2017 PBS Newshour interview about how the desire for a certain kind of sound informs the type of movement the body must make to accomplish such. Watching a Dorrance piece will completely illuminate that idea. 

The second piece of the evening, "Three to One," is a bit more dramatic. Initially lit to show only the dancers legs, "Three to One" features just three dancers. In the middle of the piece Michelle Dorrance herself takes over the stage. She, in fact, is the only one actually wearing tap shoes for the piece. As an aside, if ever you were under the impression that you had strong legs, I am here to tell you that you do not.

The final piece Dorrance Dance performed on Tuesday evening was "Myelination." The piece features several distinct styles and tones. The discordant, tortured, writhing segment in the middle of the piece, lit in red, was borderline painful. No, strike that. It was actually painful. But what a fascinating notion, that just music, movement and light can provoke such a specific emotional reaction. Other segments are lit with softer colors and feature far less terrifying movements. All sections of "Myelination" blew the audience away. 

Coincidentally, Mean Girls features a kick-ass tap number, so perhaps it was destiny that just a few days later the very idea of tap dance was stretched beyond imagination. I'll leave you with this video in the hope that you will watch this one and get sucked down the YouTube rabbit hole so all of the Dorrance Dance videos garner more views and they eventually conquer the world making music with their feet. 

Sit Back Saturday: A Recipe

Sit Back Saturday: A Recipe

Ingredients:

30 minutes hula hooping while reading

1 movement

1 bowl Cinnamon Toast Crunch with vanilla almond milk

2 slices English Muffin Toasting bread with butter

1 episode of Gilmore Girls (preferably from seasons 3-5)

60 minutes reading on the couch

Pinch of light errands

2 hour bike ride or 30 minutes on treadmill (weather dependent)

2 slices homemade pizza

2 scoops Culver’s Mint Explosion custard

1 classic movie

25 minutes reading before drifting off to sleep

Directions:

Combine first three ingredients to create the perfect breakfast. After breakfast, and if time allows, enjoy another episode. After the episode, curl up with a good book, and, if necessary, enjoy couch snoozies after reading a few chapters.

Begin the afternoon with a light lunch and a quick jaunt out on the town; remember the coupons. If needed, lunch and jaunt can be completed in either order. Pop over to grab 2 scoops of Mint Explosion. Upon returning home, set scoops aside for later.

Time to pay in sweat. Weather permitting, hop on bicycle and hit the trail. In the case of inclement weather, head to the gym for a jog on the treadmill. 

After exercise, prepare pizza dough and let rise while showering up. Prepare pizza and bake. Fire up the Netflix machine or – gasp – the DVD player to watch an old favorite such as The American President, My Best Friend’s Wedding or Bridesmaids.

Substitutes

For Cinnamon Toast Crunch: Peanut Butter Cap’N Crunch, Lucky Charms, Chocolate Chex

For Gilmore Girls: The Great British Baking Show

The Kitch Lit Series: In Season

Ruth Reichl’s Save Me the Plums is the most recent installment in the series of Reichl’s continuing memoirs. Beginning with Tender at the Bone, Reichl has chronicled her relationship to the culinary world with polished prose and delectable descriptions of some of the most delicious foods the world over. Save Me the Plums spans the years Reichl spent as editor in chief of Gourmet magazine. And while actual time spent in a kitchen may be minimal in Save Me the Plums, any Reichl tome deserves its’ place in the kitch lit series. 

Part of the Conde Nast empire, Gourmet was an established lifestyle publication when Reichl took the helm, but it was also desperately in need of a revamp. At the time she received the offer, Reichl was still comfortably settled at the New York Times, serving as the restaurant critic. Reichl doubts her abilities; after all, she does not have that kind of managerial experience. Advice from trusted friends and the prospect of more meals at home with her family (eating out 14 times every week makes a home cooked family meal quite a challenge) sway her into taking the leap. The adventure begins. The learning curve is daunting and the challenges arrive quickly, but Reichl exhibits her trademark zeal, never hesitating to dive in and learn the ropes. 

One of the most interesting aspects of Save Me the Plums is the inside look at the politics of the magazine industry. The publications under Conde Nast were vast, and the shuffling of people and positions was faster than a blackjack dealer in Vegas. Managing editors, publishers and art directors move or get moved to different publications because of changes in ad sales,  personalities and everything in between. An entirely secure environment it was not.

Save Me the Plums is a tale wherein we know the ending from the beginning. Gourmet falls victim to the steady – and still continuing (Entertainment Weekly, anyone?) – decline of the print industry. Gourmet’s end was the beginning of a new chapter in Ruth Reichl’s life. I will happily devour any and all future Reichl endeavors. 

Play It Again, Sam

In my life thus far – and let’s be clear, I am still quite, quite young – the amount of time I have spent watching TV shows is equal to the amount of time spent watching those same shows over and over again. Thanks to modern technology, bingeing on television shows has become a favorite pastime. But I can remember the old days when catching a television show again meant watching a rerun or waiting until it hit syndication and started airing on TBS or the local Fox affiliate. Then there were the DVD box sets. The money spent on DVD sets for shows now readily available on streaming services would make me multi-hundredaire. Suffice it to say I have watched a lot of the same shows over and over and over again, but there are a select handful of shows that rise to the top of my viewing list with near ridiculous regularity. 

I have watched all episodes of Gilmore Girls too many times to count. Literally. Dozens of times. I’m due for another run, it’s been at least 3 months. The writing is so smart and the characters so engaging that even though I know most of the dialogue by heart and could repeat the plot of an episode with just the title, it is well worth watching again. 

If any show comes close to Gilmore Girls as far as repeated viewings is concerned, it’s Top Chef. It does not matter that I know who wins. No matter how many times I watch it, season one Tiffany will straight up lie to Miguel about her comments at Judges Table, Otto will knowingly drive away with lychees that have not been paid for and Carla Hall will be delightful. 

In the same vein, The Great British Baking Show is literally playing on my TV right now for the fourth or fifth go round. That British sense of civility, the charming music, the delicious bakes? Delightful. While the bakers are technically competing against each other, their behavior would never lead you to believe it’s a competition. Genuinely happy for others who do well and genuinely saddened when bakers must leave the tent, the bakers and The Great British Baking Show is restorative. 

Two other shows are repeatedly binge worthy: The Office and Parks and Rec. The evolution of Michael Scott will never get old. He transformed and matured but his core desire remained the same: to be a part of a family, whatever kind of family that might be. And you can never get enough Leslie Knope. She pours her heart and soul into everything she does, especially her relationships. It’s impossible to choose the best pairing: Leslie and Ann, Leslie and Ron, Leslie and Ben, Leslie and Joe Biden.

Of course, the OG repeat watch was Seinfeld. Watching Seinfeld in syndication was a big part of my formative years. Probably too big. I laughed at the jokes I understood just as hard as those that went right over my head. I knew Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer as well as a I knew my family members. Not sure what that says about me or my family, but there you have it.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

It isn’t a Sunday morning without CBS News Sunday Morning. Focusing on art and culture, Sunday Morning is the finer things club of the television landscape, and I have been watching my entire life. Reading the headlines may lead to the conclusion that the world is going to hell in a hand basket. The cure? Sunday Morning. Wynton Marsalis’ opening trumpet is a call for humanity, reminding us of what we all have in common.

Sunday Morning feels different than any other television show. Today alone the stories ranged from a profile of Julianne Moore to the technology of hearing aids to the Alvin Ailey dance company to the lure of mermaid lore. Truly something for everyone. And the stories are given room to breathe, lasting more than just a couple of minutes. With its’ eye often turned to the arts, it is probably no wonder that I am attached to the show.  Authors, musicians, dancers, actors, visual artists and architects all get their due on Sunday Morning. The best in their field share their motivation, their process, their struggles and their triumphs.

And then, of course, there is the humor. In my formative years, Bill Geist’s forays into the lesser known, slightly eccentric, hobbies and events around the country were the highlight of the show. I vividly recall a story about individuals who collect toasters. Toasters. Who knew antique toasters were so fascinating? Now it is often a story from Mo Rocca or commentary from Jim Gaffigan or Nancy Giles that strikes the funny bone. Recognizing the importance of humor in everyday life is not to be underestimated. 

Each episode of Sunday Morning ends with a Moment in Nature. No voiceover, no music, just the natural sounds of the environment. It may be mountain goats, fish in a stream, a coral reef or cacti in the desert. The simplicity of the segment and the beauty of the natural world being highlighted combine to provide a brief respite from reality.

Certain pieces of pop culture frame your childhood memories. For me, this includes starting my Sundays with Sunday Morning and finishing them with Wishbone after swim practice. With Entertainment Weekly announcing a transition to a monthly publication I am crossing my fingers that Sunday Morning remains sacred. "Friday Night" just doesn’t have the same ring to it. 

Shine On

Some books beg to be read. The Sun Is Also A Star is one of those books. My intent for this week was to focus on The Steel Wheels. With their new album Over The Trees dropping a couple of weeks ago and my trek to Kansas City to see them at Knuckleheads, my post was in the bag. However, at the same time I was digesting their new music, I also happened to be reading The Sun Is Also A Star.

Calling to me from my bookcase with its’ bright colors and purple-edged pages, Nicola Yoon’s The Sun Is Also A Star begs to be judged by its’ cover. Tricky business indeed, isn’t there a popular idiom based around the opposite of that notion? The book’s jacket design is great, can its’ content live up to that? I breathed a sigh of relief after the first couple of passages because it became immediately clear: this is the kind of book I love to read. And, believe it or not, my love for it has very little to do with the story itself – which is wonderful – but the writing style, the narrative structure and the characters pull you in and refuse to let you go.

The Sun Is Also A Star takes place over the course of one day in present day New York City. Natasha and Daniel meet cute. But Natasha is not a believer in love, fate and definitely not the meet cute. Can aspiring poet Daniel convince Natasha to throw off the bowlines? He only has one day to do it. Natasha and her family face deportation that very evening. That is all I will say here. To reveal more would be to rob you of the pure enjoyment of taking in the story as it unfolds. 

Strunk & White’s Elements of Style informs my writing and my reading. Their sixth principle, omit needless words, in particular. Yoon is a disciple, perhaps unwittingly, of Strunk & White. Yoon’s writing is precise. Her sentence structure is exquisite. Every word has a purpose and, therefore, every sentence develops and enhances the characters and the story. Yoon can accomplish in a few sentences what other authors need a paragraph to do. One of the expositional chapters ends with this passage, “Later this afternoon my life will hop on a train headed for Doctor Daniel Jae ho Bae station, but until then the day is mine. I’m going to do whatever the world tells me to. I’m going to act like I’m in a goddamn Bob Dylan song and blow in the direction of the wind. I’m going to pretend my future’s wide open, and that anything can happen.” That passage illustrates the essence of Daniel. We will get to know him even better throughout the rest of the book but those few sentences perfectly describe Daniel’s recognition of the outside forces attempting to restrain his natural romanticism.

Along with the strength of her composition Yoon shows skill with a very interesting and effective narrative structure. The book primarily alternates between Natasha and Daniel’s perspectives. We learn about them through their reaction and adaptation to the world around them. But sprinkled amongst Natasha and Daniel’s narratives are third person narratives focusing on a variety of subjects: the security guard and the USCIS, Natasha’s father, eyes and fate to name a few. In hands less adept than Yoon’s, these shifting perspectives could become jarring, chopping the book up and endangering the flow. That does not happen here. No matter the narrative perspective, each chapter completely belongs. Natasha and Daniel’s narratives remain separate until the conclusion of the story when Yoon brings them together in a shared narrative. You will have to find out on your own the reason for their coming together.

The Sun Is Also A Star features a cast of fantastic characters. At the heart of the book’s universe are Natasha and Daniel, who are different and yet similar at the same time. Both are wise beyond their years, but not in a cloying, overly precocious, 'mini-adult' way. Life, fate and chance forced them to grow up quickly. Your heart breaks for them and moments of childhood missed. On the surface, I share little in common with Natasha and Daniel (age, race, socio-economic status, geography) but Yoon fleshes out both characters simply as members of the human race, navigating the difficulties inherent in that membership in the best way they can, and they are utterly relatable because of it. I see elements of myself in both of them. 

So, intentions be damned. I sensed almost immediately that The Sun Is Also A Star needed to be shared. That said, please do not take this as permission to skip Over The Trees, it’s a fantastic album from a group that continues to grow while remaining true to their roots. While Natasha’s playlist may veer towards rock, there is no reason your soundtrack to The Sun Is Also A Star can’t be Blue Ridge Mountain folk.

Lyle Lovett and His Large Band, Definitively In Charge

Attending a Lyle Lovett and His Large Band concert is akin to living out the cliché "variety is the spice of life." Before the concert at Hoyt Sherman Place last week, my exposure to Lyle Lovett’s music was limited to “If I Had a Boat,” which I discovered through the gone-too-soon series Parenthood. For me, the variety was entirely unexpected: a country hoedown, a smoky jazz club, a Texas church service. Luckily, I was ready for anything and everything. And everything is exactly what I got.

The variety in Lovett’s music mirrors his varied career. Active in the music industry since the 1980’s, first as a songwriter then performing both solo and with the band, Lovett also dabbles in acting. I remember his brief marriage to Julia Roberts in the 90’s since, as a ten year-old Iowan, I always had my finger on the pulse of Hollywood. 

The concert kicked off with a rousing number from the band and then Lovett hit the stage and dove into "Pants is Overrated." I instantly agreed with the notion of the song in the most literal sense. Why wear pants when you could just leave those bottoms off? That was it for me. I was sold. The rollicking continued with "San Antonio Girl," the lyrics of which paint a picture of new love, a young man head over heels. "San Antonio Girl" is a prime example of one of Lovett’s greatest strengths: telling stories through song. Each song a novella, each verse a chapter.   

While I was right at home during the hoedown, I was a bit more leery to take a side trip to the jazz club. Riffs abound and all the members of the band get a chance to shine. There is no denying their musicianship, so while jazz is not my genre of choice I cannot help but appreciate the talent. Longtime Lovett performer Francine Reed can scat with the best of them. 

Lovett continued the set with what I now know to be his biggest hits, “If I Had a Boat” among them. I love the lyric at the end of the song, ‘kiss my ass I bought a boat/I’m going out to sea.’ What a great illustration of growing up and finding your place. “Here I Am,” “North Dakota” and his cover of “I’ll Fly Away” were also highlights. The rambling “Here I Am” is an interesting deconstruction of song, breaking the music with spoken word, and with a comedic lilt at that.

Eventually, the evening morphed into a life affirming church service. The hauntingly beautiful “Ain’t No More Cane” closed out the evening, the harmonies filling the hall and our souls. Of course, the audience would not let that be the end and Lovett and the band complied by coming back out for “Church.” 

Lovett’s stage presence is authentic. His rambling seems to acknowledge that he knows he must address the audience but that, in reality, he would be more comfortable simply performing. The audience on this evening – possibly typical for a Lovett and Large Band show – was much different than I anticipated. Hollering at Lovett on the stage, constantly leaving  - either to get more booze or, more likely given their age, to go to the bathroom. Not ideal, I favor an attentive audience who is there for the music rather than the chance to drink (or pee) somewhere other than their own home. 

Audience behavior aside, I am now a Lovett devotee. It's true that I am a sucker for a live concert experience, but they aren't all good. Not all concerts convince you to listen to the music after the show, go on a YouTube spiral, talk to others about the show, imploring them to listen to your favorites so you can talk about them together. Lyle Lovett and His Large Band sold me in the first two songs.