Alvin Ailey Dance Company

Alvin Ailey Dance Company
At the Kennedy Center until February 1, 2004
Now, I love Alvin Ailey, so this is biased, but damn.

The performance I saw tonight was a set of 3 pieces - no 'Revelations,' alas. The first, 'Bounty Verses' (A DC premiere), was a more modern piece, with purple and green costume, organ music, classical violins (in and out of tune), breaking glass, rock music, more classical, then a jazz rendition of Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit.'

I wasn't really feeling it until then. It was pretty, and there was interesting lights, but it didn't hit me the way I wanted to. The movements were interesting, always graceful, and my mind kept wandering.

I have problems with dance and classical music in performance. There's no narrative thread, so my mind wandered. It wandered all over the place here.

The second, 'Rainbow Round My Shoulder,' was a chain gang piece set to those songs and damn. There was a bit of a narrative to this, so my mind kept with it more. As the Man and his Sweetie play act several scenes to those songs, you're touched by the sad desperation of the man's dreams. The dancers clothes are skin toned, and give no comfort to the audience. They're just men and a Sweetie who turns from a girl to an old woman to a mourner. And the choreography was breathtaking. As the dancers move through their movements with such startling contrast to the desperate voices, well... I got the shivers. This is what I think of when I think Alvin Ailey.

The third piece was called 'The Winter in Lisbon' and was very Portuguese. Bright colors, flouncing skirts, shimmying, sensuality, wistful romance and lots of joy. This was the perfect piece to end with, leaving the audience hyped.

What annoyed me the most with this production is what's been happening in a lot of theater lately. The overly ambition curtain call. 'Bounty Verses' was very much an ensemble piece, yet the curtain call was two by two, then a company bow, then another company bow, then the lights went out and almost instantly came back on to let them have another bow. Ditto 'Winter in Lisbon,' but that was faboo, so I'll forgive that. Also, it was choreographed.

Alvin Ailey. Gorgeous. Find out when they're in town, and see them. Just make sure you see 'Revelations.'

Sorcery and Cecelia

Dude. This book rocks.

I mean, it's children's fantasy, so mind-blowing, life changing it ain't, but still. It's great fun. This is another candy bar read.

The story follows Kate and Cecilia, two teenage types in post-Napoleon England where magic is real. For those who know Patricia Wrede, think the Mairelon the Magician universe. The book is an epistolary (series of letters) written between the two girls. The authors each picked a character and a storyline and while the two are connected, they aren't. One of the girls is "coming out" (to high society, not the other way) and the other is stuck in the country. Intrigues arise, magic abounds, and an enchanted chocolate pot takes a central role.

A chocolate pot. That's one of the things that makes it so much fun. The authors are aware of the level of ridiculousness and manage to make it entertaining without even acknowledging just how silly they are.

Evil witches, the beautiful cousin gambling family fortunes away, the stiff chaperoning aunt, sinister magicians, the Mysterious Marquis... it's all great fun.

Again, Children's Literature. Not Shakespeare. Tamora Pierce and His Dark Materials are far more entertaining than some adult marketed science fiction. Have you read the latest Anne McCaffrey books? Did you regret it as much as I did?

Any girl/woman with an interest in sci-fi/fantasy should read Patricia Wrede. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles is too cute and has a great sense of humor.

Again, it's not fantastic literature. It's not life changing and the plot is, shall we say, predictable. But if you're gonig to read kidlit, this is the way to go. An entertaining, easy read.

The Devil Wears Prada

Anyone who's ever had a terrible boss can relate to this. Anyone who's ever had their life spin out of control can relate to this. The story is engaging, and it made me finish the book in a day.

What would you put up with to (potentially) get the job of your dreams? Triple it, and that's a good day for Andy Sachs, the lead character of this. Fresh out of college and desperate for work, she takes a job with Miranda Priestly, THE fashion editor for Runway Magazine. As she quickly turns into her slave, half starved, criticized for her Gapwear, guess what? Her personal life suffers. I know, shocking.

As someone fresh out of college and halfway through an internship, I understand the frustration. Way too much work for not a lot of money. The ridiculousness escalates, and the two dimensional characters (the do gooder boyfriend, the alcoholic best friend, the inhuman boss, the indoctrinated coworkers, the creepy security guard) don't help.

To be fair, this book is a lot of fun and keeps your interest. The payoffs are unsatisfying and there's not really a moral for the story, except do what you want, and not something that will help you get to what you want. Now I feel all fuzzy inside. Aww...

And I got to hear about the insider perks of the fashion world, all the clothes I could never wear because I'm a) cheap and b) fat. Frankly all of the ridiculous 'I'm so fat' talk has made me not want to work in fashion. At ALL.

Is it great literature? No. Is it life changing? No. Is it a nice candy bar read for when you just can't handle anything heavy, life changing, or want something to read in the bath? Yes.