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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2008 > March > 10
Monday, March 10, 2008
Grupo Fantasma rocks the Long Center
It didn’t take long for Austin powerhouse band Grupo Fantasma to get the near-capacity crowd rocking Sunday night at the new Long Center for the Performing Arts.
The cumbia-funk favorite clearly brought part of its devoted fan base with them for the free show, the finale to this weekend’s Long Center open house. But there were converts aplenty after just a couple of songs and the aisles of the 2,400-seat Dell Hall filled with the dancing hordes. People in the balconies and the box seats couldn’t sit still either — the Dell Hall was dancing top to bottom.
Grupo Fantasma sounded leagues better than the Antonie’s All Stars did a couple of weeks ago at a public ‘sound check’ concert. Here’s the thing to remember with the Dell Hall — the place is acoustically perfect. You don’t need to crank the volume to be plenty loud and extremely clear.
Making their second appearance this weekend, Long Center namesakes Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long got a standing ovation from the crowd after center executive director Cliff Redd introduced the Austin philanthropists. “This is your center, Austin,” boomed Joe Long. By the way, the Grupo Fantasma concert was the only show the Longs took in Sunday.
Also netting a rousing round of applause was Long Center architect Stan Haas. After all, what’s not to love about a groovy new building that’s not only ecologically smart, but honors the past while looking ahead to the future?
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Review: Tapestry’s ‘Souls of Our Feet 2008’
Dancers usually get to perform a show for one weekend only. Tapestry has had almost three years to let “Soles of Our Feet” live inside their bodies, since a touring grant from the National Endowment for the Arts has kept the show in active repertory. The result is an even more nuanced (and longer) version of the homage to tap history than the company has presented in Austin over the past two years.
“Soul’s” most recent incarnation, including new works by Arthur Duncan, Harold Cromer, Jeni Legon and Brenda Bufalino, returned to the Helm Fine Arts Center Friday.
The show still has some holes in its overall logic. Without previous knowledge of the tappers honored, it might be hard to follow who did what and why his or her contribution was important. Yet Tapestry reaches broadly across American tap and the high quality dancing makes “Soul” an entertaining history lesson.
Duncan, best known for appearances on the “Lawrence Welk Show,” brought his ebullient singing and dancing, as well as his hamming grin. His high kicks in the “buck and wing” step rival the younger dancers’ antics.
The company recreated Sarah Petronio’s “Joy Spring” with heightened energy. Petronio, a guest in the first “Soul” in 2006 displays a paradoxical mix of cool understatement and body-forward anticipation. Katelyn Harris seemed to channel Petronio’s style, not just her steps.
“Soul” is a great show, and it performs an important function for dance history. Perhaps most significantly “Soul’s” tour has let the rest of the U.S. see one of Austin’s strongest arts organizations. But hopefully next season will bring a display of Tapestry’s talents in a new show.
Clare Croft is an American-Statesman arts freelancer.
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