Friday, May 20, 2005

How Cool Is My Mom?!

So my mom, who is not the most artistically-inclined of beings, has been taking a dance class for several years now--a class for older women. Meanwhile, her best friend, who is quite artistic and got her to take the dance class in the first place, has become one of the reknowned older dancers of the east coast. This year, their teachers decided that they were going to perform. Mom was not excited. She's not the performance type. But she went along with it. Now, apparently, they are taking East Coast Big City by storm! Here's their first review (with names and places changed to protect some degree of anonymity):

If there still were such things as a “dance cards”---theirs would be full. As it is, these women are in demand by top East Coast Big City choreographers like Choreographer A and Choreographer B. This might not be surprising if they weren’t all seniors. The performance this past week, called “There’s a Dance in the Ol’ Dame Yet” is sponsored by Local Dance Company for “post-professional dancers aged 55-85.”

This particular performance kicked off a series of concerts at the East Coast Big City Dance Complex called “Tuesdays at Noon.” The interconnected pieces these women performed combined dance, improv, theater and a wee bit of performance art (but not enough to be scary).

They acted up a storm with lawn chairs as props. They danced with, around, under and in the chairs and they each told us their own story. What stories they were, as elegant and diverse ---and funny--- as the choreography (by Choreographer C and B and company). The performance title comes from dynamo Older Dancer. Becca's Mom's Best Friend always wanted to “change the world” and now she does, one dance at a time. This was Becca's Mom's first performance (if you don’t count junior high school) although she’s no wallflower where community activism is concerned. The stories amaze. The energy is infectious. The spirit feels like the women’s movement all over again. And when one man in the audience asked if they’d take him under their wing, it was a resounding YES.

Go, Mom!

No comments: