Not Your Ordinary Cabaret

by Paul Gillis

On Saturday afternoon, I caught the first perrformance of "Cabaret Extraordinaire" at the Atlas. It was definitely not your ordinary cabaret!
Danced Performance Group has put together this amazing program of modern dance, music and performance art.Here, a moment from Nancy Havlik's "Pure Elixir".

This is from Havlik's more theatrical piece, "Is Dave Dead?", with narration inspired by hard-boiled detective fiction.

Peter Fraize & Steve Hilmy provided some truly inspired modern jazz, in a piece they called "Nil".

I think the most remarkable performance of the show was by Joseph Perna, in his solo piece "Bestial Acts". I can't even begin to describe this piece. But it did feature a number of Weill/Brecht songs, and much of their world-weary feeling.

And the show wrapped up with a very intimate performance in the back of the theater, "Nonstop" by Malcolm Shute. The audience left their seats & crowded around the three dancers for a performance with a remarkable sound track. Unfortunately, the lighting made it nearly impossible to get a good photo of the proceedings. I offer this one, but really, you just had to be there.

To see more photos from my Saturday travels, go to my web gallery at http://paulgillis.phanfare.com/album/338390/482325#imageID=21999553