City in Motion: A Modern Night at the Folly

Tonight, for the first time, I attended a modern dance performance. A friend, who was directing and performing in it, invited us to come. It was at the Folly Theater - a wonderful venue and the show was put on by City in Motion. The performances were unlike anything I’d ever seen, and yet they resonated with me.

The first one made me happy for reasons I couldn’t articulate. The second one made me sad for reasons I could explain. The third was a delightful, cartoon-like mating ritual between two members of a species that does not exist. That one was my favorite. Until the solo performance that involved a booth like a dressing room with retractable curtains - that was my other favorite. No wait: the one with eleven dancers all dressed in gray who moved together swiftly across the stage - like rain, Sergio said. That was my other favorite. No wait: the solo performance by the woman in white who stood at the very front edge of the stage and moved so slowly and deliberately. That was my other favorite. They were all so different - maybe that was my favorite thing of all.

There were things you don’t expect - pieces of cupcake flying across the stage, a blowout noisemaker featuring prominently in two performances, that booth like a dressing room. But the things you do expect were there in full force: beautiful shapes, expressive details, and impressive physical strength. Many things to be moved by. And at the end of each performance while the audience clapped and cheered, the dancers, so pliable, would bow and fold precisely in half in gratitude before vanishing from the stage.