Political art should not hit you on the head, Carmen Ruiz said that in Hour last year before her show at the MAI. Oops, I said that in 2007, about one dance show that tried hard to be political. (The concept is actually a variation on politics in general, you want to change people to your point, not hit them until they convert).
So do I give inFluxdance a pass here? I loved their first two shows years back, the complicated patterns, the fun, the vegetables and the keys. There's no humor here, but I did have mild tears in my eyes towards the end. I can't figure out if they've just things that would trigger that in me, or if the show does work properly, affect people without hitting them over the head. Yet I know I would react badly if they were hitting us on the head with it, that's my makeup, so I think I'm not overlooking it because they are inFluxdance. They are actually dancing to say something, unlike that show four years ago where the dance seemed so separate from the political quotes being played through the sound system. Once again, they have a fair number of dancers for a Fringe show, I think I counted six, which of course gives the show a different tone from one that is a solo or duet. I think they captured a crowd well at one point.
Sometimes the Fringe has shoehorned dance into too small a venue especially when lots of dancers appear), though I once saw Jane Gabriels recite poetry in the late Bistro 4 while dancers squeezed beteen tables. But, while Tangente has the space I find it less appealing. The MAI seems better for dance, even La Chapelle, they have big enough stages, but not that depth that sometimes the dancers seem lost in. I like the years when it's grouped together, since some shows seem to get lost when off somewhere else, but this show fit okay in Club Espanol.
