Friday on the Fringe was full of free offerings, but fun, not
free, is the word that epitomized the night for me. I left feeling happy,
energized, and excited about the festival; music, dance and photography
cavorting in my brain.
Sisters of Murphy, a local band that fuses traditional
Celtic drinking songs with rock ‘n’ roll played at that Manhattan Square bowl,
a venue that worked well acoustically. I have been meaning to hear this band
ever since I heard its name — the play on the classic Goth band Sisters of
Mercy spoke to me. These guys obviously had a biting sense of humor with a
touch of Sesame Street. And they did not disappoint.
Frontman Mark Tichenor
(on concertina) frequently drew laughter from the crowd with his spot-on humor
— humor that also found its way into the lyrics. The refrain of the group’s
original “The Rehab Song” had me chuckling. “Johnny, I can save you. Johnny, I
can save you. But first you have to put the whiskey down.”
Then there was “Katie Dear,” off “Holy Show.”
“This one goes out to every girl named Katie,” Tichenor quipped to the audience. “How many Katies do we have tonight? We love you Katies.”
The huge audience was enjoying themselves immensely, dancing
to the music with moves from hip-hop to simple rhythmic swaying. The band was
good at connecting with its listeners verbally; plus the members were fun to
watch. The band’s other frontmanJona
Chartrand (on electric guitar) had the rock ‘n’ roll moves to keep the audience
on their feet. Besides, the music was too good to sit still too. It went from
tender to ribald emotionally and just grabbed and held you musically.
Next, I caught FuturPointe
Dance and Carrie Mateosian in “Unbridled” which
took place in the Spiegelgarden. This high octane
production had a juicy voyeuristic vibe since we were basically seeing a live
photo shoot of gorgeous, scantily-clad dancers moving sensually as fine arts
photographer Mateosian snapped away, her shots
projected immediately upon a large screen.
The featured dancers, Liam Knighten
and Melinda Phillips, were turned into other-worldly creatures via body art
before Mateosian started capturing their images.
First, Mateosian smoothed a white cream onto their
bodies, then poured colored sand over them, the dancers assisting in the
transformation. The audience gathered close, watching spellbound as first
Phillips, then Knighten, seemed to revel in their new
identities, losing themselves (and us) in exalting movement — crouching and
rising, writhing and extending — exploring physicality and movement in their
changed state. And, finally, moving together in skin-tingling connections.
Guy Thorne, co-founder of the five-year-old company, played
the role of commentator in this production. While his dancing was missed, he
contributed humor and depth to what we were observing.
“The play of textures — the sand versus the complexion of the
body — helps create a dynamic image,” he said.
Although this show featured less choreographed dancing than
most of its contemporary-based performances, the show opened with six FuturPointe dancers enthralling us with their loose-limbed
rhythmic moves, sassy and sexy. They looked to be enjoying themselves too,
perhaps even as much as we were enjoying watching them.
FuturPointe Dance and
Carrie Mateosian will perform “Unbridled” again on
Friday, September 26, and Saturday, September 27. Both shows are at 8:30 p.m.
and are free.
This article appears in Sep 17-23, 2014.
