We've been wanting to see a Poor Dog Group production for a while, mainly because we love and respect Brad Culver and his work.
The only Poor Dog production we'd seen was Brewsie and Willie - an adaptation of Gertrude Stein's work, which we saw as part of the 2011 RADAR LA Festival. We enjoyed it, and it was a good introduction to Poor Dog. So we were intrigued to see The Murder Ballad, which we saw last week at REDCAT as part of the New Original Works Festival.
I find that it's a difficult piece to critique because I'm not sure I got it. Actually, I'm fairly certain I didn't get it.
I had trouble understanding how the main performer on stage - a beautiful and powerful female dancer - related to the song that was playing in the background, and how she related to a male performer who appeared on stage at times.
So I'm not sure how I feel about it as a whole, but I did like some of its parts.
I was enthralled by Jessica Emmanuel's performance, as she has so much control in her dancing and her movement. She'll go from erratic fits to being completely still in a split second, and she uses her entire body to communicate anger, desperation, agony, and joy.
I also enjoyed how she and Jesse Saler, the male character, would interact - stealing expressions off of one another, dancing at times in completely sync, and coming within an inch of each other, yet never touching.
Another effect of the dance and the song that I particularly liked is how it reminded me of Toni Morrison's novels, featuring strong, loving women who are scorned and turn violent when in agony in order to release a loved one from misery.
The only Poor Dog production we'd seen was Brewsie and Willie - an adaptation of Gertrude Stein's work, which we saw as part of the 2011 RADAR LA Festival. We enjoyed it, and it was a good introduction to Poor Dog. So we were intrigued to see The Murder Ballad, which we saw last week at REDCAT as part of the New Original Works Festival.
I find that it's a difficult piece to critique because I'm not sure I got it. Actually, I'm fairly certain I didn't get it.
I had trouble understanding how the main performer on stage - a beautiful and powerful female dancer - related to the song that was playing in the background, and how she related to a male performer who appeared on stage at times.
So I'm not sure how I feel about it as a whole, but I did like some of its parts.
I was enthralled by Jessica Emmanuel's performance, as she has so much control in her dancing and her movement. She'll go from erratic fits to being completely still in a split second, and she uses her entire body to communicate anger, desperation, agony, and joy.
I also enjoyed how she and Jesse Saler, the male character, would interact - stealing expressions off of one another, dancing at times in completely sync, and coming within an inch of each other, yet never touching.
Another effect of the dance and the song that I particularly liked is how it reminded me of Toni Morrison's novels, featuring strong, loving women who are scorned and turn violent when in agony in order to release a loved one from misery.
