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Friday, October 18, 2013
Arts Theater review: Rouge
Posted By Perry Tannenbaum on Fri, Oct 18, 2013 at 10:05 AM
Summer, winter, spring, and fall, aerial is what Caroline Calouche & Co. do. As the novelty of aerial choreography has gradually worn off, following its original Cirque du Soleil éclat, Calouche & Co. have taken aerial to unaccustomed and unlikely regions, including Edgar Alan Poe and The Nutcracker when they're in season. The troupe's most recent experiment last weekend, Rouge, was their maiden flight in cabaret, and the slinky, sensuous, song-infused potpourri at Booth Playhouse was mostly a success.
- Photo by Theresa Browning
- Calouche & Co.'s Ulia O'Hara and Jim Reynolds on trapeze.
Abandoning plot, Calouche was able to bring far more variety to her program than usual, even delegating hosting and choreographing roles. Rachael Houdek emceed and sang, while keyboardist Ryan Stamey accompanied and sang backup. Dance spots still heavily emphasized a variety of aerial contraptions - silks, rings, bungee, and trapeze - but suddenly Calouche didn't have to strain to connect the spots to an ongoing story, and her audience didn't have to strain to believe there was a connection. Or wait till a flimsy plot actually resumed.
Abrupt shifts in the music were now welcome instead of jarring, with fewer obstacles standing in the way of showcasing dancing talents to their best advantage. Standouts included supple ecdysiast Ulia O'Hara and Jim Reynolds paired in a trapeze "Mambo," Houdeck and Stamey hooked up in "Sweet Dreams," the colored whirling "Poi" balls of Ethan Goodman, and O'Hara's uncanny intertwinings with a simple chair as Houdek and Stamey delivered "Low Down Man."
In an ill-advised move, Calouche fancied that she could scorch a torch song - the exact opposite of the actual outcome. But this lowlight didn't dim the highlights of Rouge. Perhaps the most original and sensational was Shelby Scott's acrobatics on a suspended ring during her vocal performance of "Glitter." Unlike Calouche, who is best airborne, Scott sings even better than she soars.
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