Company: Desert Dance Theatre
Choreographer: Lisa Chow
Performers: Lisa R. Chow, Candy Jimenez, Caroline Liddicoat, Step Raptis
In Your Dreams is a cheeky little piece (as in tongue-in-cheek), from choreographer, Lisa Chow, who does a quick vamp on the singles bar scene. A gaggle of female friends (a trio – including Chow), collectively outfitted in a tribute to the little black dress, are chatting away, oblivious to their surroundings. Enter the hapless single male, Step Raptis, hoping to get a dance and possibly a romantic pick-up. Step – with his shock of white hair and obvious age – is the poster boy for rejection at a singles bar. Still, he attempts the pick-up ritual, awkwardly asking for a dance, with the expected results. This exchange involves a touch more pantomime than we need but, hey – it’s just a set up for a rather clever concept, and we get it. He gets shot down sequentially by the trio of women and retreats to his lonely chair where he promptly drifts off to dreamland – and the fantasy ensues.
That fantasy has him dancing with his choice of the women, each of whom are now eager for his attention. I’m convinced that Step will never, in whatever is left of this lifetime, pass himself off as a professional dancer. However, the stage would be a much poorer place without him. His easy, infectious energy and his natural theatricality immediately engages the audience. If anything, he is typecast for this role and is just the right amount of wrong for this character.
The dance sequences are legitimately comedic. Whichever woman he partners with creates a jealous rivalry between the remaining two, resulting in some hilarious down-on-the-ground catfights. I was particularly interested in the creative combinations of bodies as multiple women tried to dance with him at once. This made for some very inventive partnering as the three women jostled for position.
The piece ended with a sight gag – our would-be swain back in his chair doing that wrap-your-arms-around-your-back thing that mimics an embrace, the women now horrified by his deluded interaction with himself – hence the title, “In Your Dreams”.
This was an over-the-top comedic sketch with some inventive interactions and a clever twist at the end. It was a welcome change of pace in the evening’s presentation and the audience ate it up.
Viewed Re/Viewed
Recent Comments