cultural adventures of two suburbanites

We had a three-fer or perhaps a four-fer last week, as far as cultural events go. Not bad for two boring people from the suburbs.

On Thursday, we actually got to stay in the suburbs and attend a dance performance by a NYC troupe. We and a friend saw NutCracked by David Parker and the Bang Group. We saw the same performance last year in Provincetown with five dancers; this time there were ten, so the choreography felt different. We also saw DP&TBG last summer in the same venue, performing different pieces.

The performance is a takeoff on the Nutcracker. In the first half, they dance to modern interpretations of the original music and in the second half, they dance to straight interpretations of the original music. There are lots of body percussion noises. Some of the more memorable scenes include toe shoes on all four extremities, popping bubble wrap in time to the music, and an incredibly erotic passage involving thumb-sucking.

Our friend was delighted as were we, and I'm looking forward to seeing DB&TBG next summer if not sooner.


On Saturday, my company held its "holiday" party, which for once was about as ecumenical as could be, given that everyone's so tired of the holidays that they were completely erased from the scene. We attended the Blue Man Group, which neither of us had seen. There were some good parts, and, as I suspected, some tedious "male humor" parts (think eating imitation twinkie vomit). Lots of varied music, including a long passage from Bolero, a pleasant surprise. There was a lot of trying to get the audience to behave as one unit. If I go back, I'd enjoy it more if I brought a young child, preferably male, between the ages of 8 and 12. Fun, but not outrageously so.

We had a cocktail party at the very elegant Davio's. One of the waiters, a delightful old queen (and I'm sure he wouldn't mind my calling him that), discovered quickly that I am vegetarian and started making a beeline to me every time he had non-meat on his passed hors d'oevres plate. He explained in an aside to one of my chattees that he tries to pick out the disenfranchised at every party. Very sweet, and I felt well taken care of. The food was good, the conversation was fun. I talked to a lot of wives of coworkers who were all lovely and gracious and intriguing to talk to.

There was too much standing on hard stone floors, though, and I finally ran out of stand up.


Our next stop was a contra dance, which we arrived at late. The instant I hit the dance floor, the caller announced that I had arrived and started to teach my favorite dance, the Hills of Haversham, which I've only ever heard him call. Very thoughtful. He later reported that he was pleasantly surprised at how well we danced it. It felt nice from the floor, too.

Unfortunately, the band is my current least favorite. They play an old timey style of music that all sounds the same to my ear. They're good musicians, and they keep a steady beat going. However, their music all sounds whiney and twangy and for me, there's no lyricism. They played at our last dance camp and I found their bored attitude somewhat poisonous; we can be grateful that they played for just one short evening this time.


And on Sunday, we attended a Boston Symphony Chamber Players concert. They performed the Third Brandenburg Concerto, followed by a Stravinsky that opens with passages taken from the first piece, except reassembled the way Picasso did cubism. But I was quite proud of myself for actually hearing the borrowed pieces. They also performed two Copland pieces, one mercifully short. The other was Appalachian Spring for 13 instruments instead of the usual full orchestra. I very much enjoyed the second half of AS, which seemed to be a meditation on "Tis a Gift to be Simple," fortunately done very simply and respectfully.


As a side-note, my brother is in the country for a month, directing The Marriage of Figaro: The Las Vegas Version. Unfortunately, between our schedules and the cat's illness, I'm unable to see it, though I've seen an earlier version. In this latest update, the lyrics have been rewritten by one of the members of the Capitol Steps to better fit the silly script. If you're in Washington during its run (Jan 14-Jan 28), I recommend it.