howard shapiro
By Howard Shapiro
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Molly Eichel
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Merilyn JacksonBy Merilyn Jackson The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein said, “Philosophy ought really to be written only as a form of poetry.” I am never happier than when I can read choreography as poetry, as I — and, I think, the audience — did over the weekend with choreographer John Jasperse’s Fort Blossom Revisited 2000/2012. This fuller version of the original 2000 work premiered Friday at the Hepburn Teaching Theater, Bryn Mawr College’s black-box theater. The college was the leading funder of the reconstructed and expanded 60-minute work. On the black side of the divided black and white floor, Ben Asriel and Burr Johnson dance completely nude in subdued lighting (designed by Stan Pressner in its 2000 premiere, now directed by James Clotfelder). On the white side, Lindsay Clark and Erika Hand dance in contrasting brightness, wearing thigh-high dresses the rich red color of cinnabar. Nancy G. HellerBy Nancy G. Heller This was not just another Asian-fusion dance concert. In recent years there’s been a vogue for combining Indian classical dance with western techniques -- Bharatanatyam and ballet, Kuchipudi and modern dance, Kathak and tap — with varying degrees of success. In her one-woman show, Friday and Saturday at the Painted Bride, Sheetal Gandhi used Indian heel-stamps and turns, alongside western-style isolations and floorwork, to create an eloquent, inventive, virtuosic dance-theater piece that kept the opening-night audience transfixed. Gandhi has an unbelievably varied resume. She has toured with Cirque du Soleil, performed with the National Dance Ensemble of Ghana, and acted on Broadway; she’s a percussionist with a university degree in psychology and dance. She also wrote, directed, and choreographed Bahu-Beti-Biwi (Daughter-in-Law, Daughter, Wife), which she has presented at venues from Israel to Hawaii. In this piece Gandhi explores her cultural heritage, as a 21st-century Californian whose life is still shaped by age-old Indian traditions. She assumes various identities: petulant teenager, disapproving old woman, 30-something man. Each character speaks -- and moves --differently, in scenes that evoke humor and melancholy, rage and abject terror. Jim RutterBy Jim Rutter Opera depicts tragedy. American musicals, for the most part, show sappy, silly stories of young lovers stumbling through courtship. Composer Jeffrey Lunden’s and writer Arthur Perlman’s musical adaptation of Arthur Kopit’s play Wings Jim RutterBy Jim Rutter Despite science fiction’s immense popularity in books and film, it has never enjoyed similar esteem on stage. Instead, playwrights since Jules Verne’s era have embraced psychological realism as the means to examine life. Little, I’m sure, felt more real for Kurt Vonnegut than watching a division of Panzer tanks cut his fellow soldiers to ribbons. And he, like many post-war writers, dealt with the horrors of World War II by closing his eyes and clutching the steady hand of fatalism. Jim RutterBy Jim Rutter Memories of trauma tormented Tennessee Williams most of his adult life. His father bullied him, his lover died young from cancer, his family had his sister, Rose, lobotomized. In his later years, Williams (1911-1983) coped with a deluge of alcohol, amphetamines and barbiturates. He choked on a bottle cap and died alone in a New York hotel room. Anyone could learn the above from Williams’ Wikipedia page; a new creative work that attempts to dramatize his final moments must transcend available information. The solid production at South Camden Theatre Company can’t save the world premiere of Joseph M. Paprzycki’s Tennessee’s Final Curtain from failing in this crucial respect.
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