BWW Reviews: DoubleTake, Andrew J. Nemr, and Glitter Kitty Dance to Impress at the Moving Beauty Series

Friday evening's performance at the Secret Theatre in Long Island City, as part of the Moving Beauty Series, was fascinatingly diverse and entertaining. The evening opened with a combination of shorter pieces performed by DoubleTake Dance, under the co-artistic direction of Ashley Carter and Vanessa Martinez de Baños. Each piece centered on one cohesive idea, and they all exuded a nice polished finish individually. The music, costumes, and choreography were very much chosen to represent the overall theme that was being communicated in each work. Carter's and Martinez de Baños' choreography is masterfully grounded and athletic for contemporary jazz and adds a strong level of enticement for the viewers. While the dancers appeared to have been well-rehearsed, there were the occasional moments of wavering and loss of confidence that can often accompany such technically difficult movement. Overall, each piece that DoubleTake Dance presented was entertaining and refreshing from a contemporary jazz standpoint.

The next performance was a tap solo by Andrew J. Nemr. It is always a pleasure to see Nemr perform, as his tap skill is breath-taking. Such advanced tap is quite rare in today's current dance environment. He performed without any sound accompaniment, which gave his performance a stripped quality. However, his technique and performance speak to the audience. It was lovely to watch.

The final company to perform, Glitter Kitty Productions, came out in full force to close the show. They opened with a new contemporary ballet work titled La Mer Tourjours Recommencee. Three lovely women came rolling out onto the stage with their lower bodies bound in blue and green shimmering fabric. A brilliantly colored sea poll was positioned at stage left; the dancers rolled to it and wrapped the bottoms of the fabric around the poll. They then began to roll and intertwine as the fabric rolled off of their bodies, revealing beautiful, balletic dancers. Then a male dancer entered the stage, casually picking up sea shells. From here, the piece turned into an ebb and flow of partnering, floor work, and performance between three women and two men. The sound accompaniment, which consisted of the sound of waves intercut with romantic French music, added an air of lightness and breath to such advanced contemporary ballet movement. The dancers displayed wonderful technique, and it was fascinating to watch beautiful ballet dancers execute such fluid and grounded floor work. Viewing this contemporary ballet piece about the sea and all of its wonders was beautifully refreshing and extremely enjoyable to watch.

As the last female ballet dancer on stage was performing beautiful floor work with the fabric, performers began to set the stage for an excerpt of Glitter Kitty Production's musical The Lovely Wilds, an entertaining show about a sea community. The community's inhabitants must sink or swim in this cut-throat world: stealing, lying, running, and fighting to survive. The musical had an excellent air of comic relief, with witty writing, intelligent use of props, deep character development, strong acting, and wonderful vocals. Each piece of the musical was beautifully supportive. The lines the actors delivered led smoothly into the musical pieces and the dance added to the description of the language of the songs. Here in New York City, where highly expensive and famous musicals dominate the musical theatre scene, The Lovely Wilds, when a completed production, will be a brilliant and refreshing addition. I was disappointed when the excerpt concluded, and am greatly looking forward to the full production of this heart-felt, funny, yet realistic story of human survival.

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