Written by Raine Blunk
As the chatter of audience members settled and the house lights dimmed, I wondered how I found myself at the Savannah Dance Festival’s “Piña with a Twist.”
My knowledge of dance and what makes it good is limited. The last time I sat in an auditorium for a performance of this sort, I was eight years old watching “The Nutcracker” with my grandmother.
Pat Alley, president of the Savannah Dance Festival Commission, took the stage to introduce the show and promised the audience “a night of wow,” focused around the reinterpretations of classic stories through tap, ballet, and other forms of dance. From my spot in the theater, cynicism set in. How could I take seriously a bunch of people running around a stage wearing leotards?
But as the curtain rose, I tried to view the next 13 performances, featuring more than 70 local dancers, with an open mind.
My perspective immediately faded away as fuchsia, green and bright blue lights hit the stage and a group of neon-clad women began to shake their hair — and their assets — across the stage to the beat of an original recording of “Hair.” This song seamlessly moved into an excerpt from Smash Mouth’s hit “I’m a Believer.” The energy from each dancer was felt, but as several girls climbed up the risers made of metal piping in the background, all I could imagine was a bad nightclub from the ’90s that was missing its smoke machine.
Smash Mouth ended abruptly as I continued to question my decision to sit so close to the front of the stage.
As the next piece, “Shades of Alice,” began, the technical characteristics that make classical dance so beautiful became apparent. In part one, “Her Delusions of Grandeur,” Margaret Bryant’s soft shoes helped her move easily from one edge of the stage to another as her pale blue tutu followed in her trail. The intensity of “Reprise 5” from Tim Burton’s “Alice” grew, and so did Bryant’s movements, mirroring the complexity of Alice’s journey through Wonderland.
The second act, starring four of the younger dancers featured that evening, had dynamic choreography by Elissa Edwards. Erratic yet uncomplicated, “If You Go Chasing Rabbits” played with an ebb and flow of energy that could have been channeled from a group of lively wood nymphs engaged in combat.
The show continued with several campy versions of classic stories, such as a tap performance of “Hansel and Gretel” set to an electronic remix, and “The Ugly Duckling” in which the ‘mother duck’ paraded around the stage, well, like a duck. Even the seriousness of “Solo Guitar in A Minor” by the one and only J.S. Bach could not keep me from giggling in the dark as Mom Duck’s tall, slender frame and brown dress towered above the other ‘ducklings,’ each in childish yellow get-ups. The performers’ lack of synchronization made the situation even less enjoyable to watch.
“Beyond the Shadows of Neverland” and the shows final act, “The Emperor’s New Clothes” each featured more than 15 dancers as well as a more complex use of props and set design. Unfortunately, the nursery room mattresses in the first portion of “Neverland” seemed to clog the stage as Tink, Peter Pan, Wendy and the kids all ‘flew’ to the magical world of never growing up. “The Emperor’s New Clothes” took a ’50s approach to fashion with removable poodle skirts that doubled as matador capes to attract three of the show’s four male dancers.
As the jazzy pep of “Sing Sing Sing” by Louis Prima faded into the speakers and the house lights sharply turned on, my perception of dance had been totally change. Sure, the Savannah Dance Festival is only in its first year and the show has some room for improvement, but the amount of local talent and skilled young dancers in their inaugural performance was impressive.
I left the auditorium leaving my cynicism for dance behind and a bit in disbelief— “Piña With a Twist” managed to deliver on its promise for “a night of wow.”
