There are the obvious Big names returning this year, but some returning acts are sort of hidden. I'm not sure I've found all of them, but here goes.
Last year, a woman came from New York City and did "Recess". She's back, doing "JapJap". I never saw last year's show, she finished her run on the Wednesday, but it was something I was curious about, and it seemed to get good reviews. This year's show seems drastically different, and I didn't realize it was her until I looked at the program blurb a few times.
Maybe more important, Lynsey Billing is doing "Siblings". It's dance, but somehow lost over at Mainline. She did a dance show in 2008 "Barbie World". They wandered around the Beer Tent in electric pink dresses, I thought they should have been in the Drag Races since they were already in drag.
I wrote back then:
I saw Barbie World. It's only 30 minutes long, which helped a lot for a
performance that started at midnight. I heard the interview on the
radio, but I had expected something to play up the pop culture aspect
of Barbie, especially given the cast has been running around the Fringe
in electric pink dresses and wigs. I had expected more of entertainment
type dance, so I postponed my viewing of it. But, other than the
opening piece, where the cast are Barbies, this is contemporary dance,
maybe with a fair influence from ballet. It was pretty good. A bonus is
that there are lots of dancers, a lot of dance at the Fringe is solo or
duets, surely the result of the small stage and finding performers who
can be at performances at varying times. I remember now that I had
almost gone to see it months back when it was performed at Studio 303,
and something came up. It was right around Barbie's birthday, which is
supposed to be March 9th; she was born in 1959 so she turns the Big 5-0
next year.
So based on that previous show, I'll take in this one. I notice it's also a 15 minute and $5 show, which gives it even ore reason to be seen.
One thing we have to remember is that modern dance is not very lucrative, other than the most popular have to have a second job, if they are lucky they can teach dance or yoga. For others, how we view them is perspective. If I only know someone because she performs at Studio 303, I'll see her as a dancer or choreographer, but someone in another aspect of their life might see them as a librarian that sometimes performs
Fringe Very Oldtimer Ed Fuller is doing "Between Gossip & Dreams". It sure has an intriguing premise. I remember seeing Ed Fuller for the first time in 1996 performing at the Beer Tent, but his history goes back further. Sometimes he's missing, other times he's performing and other times he's volunteering.
