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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2012 > February > 21
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Ballet Austin’s ‘New American Talent/Dance’ winners announced
Ballet Austin has tallied up the votes — and prize money — for Fourth Biennial New American Talent/Dance, a national modern ballet choreographic competition held this past weekend at the Long Center for the Performing Arts.
Three finalists competed for cash prizes awarded by an dance-industry jury and the audience itself, voting by text message. zes.
The results are:
- Loni Landon awarded the winning Jurors’ Award of $6,000 for her piece ‘The Wild Card’
- Gregory Dolbashian awarded a Jurors’ Award of $5,000 for his piece ‘views that never cease to keep me from myself’
- Bradley Shelver awarded a Jurors’ Award of $4,000, and received the Audience Award of $1,000 each night, making him the largest prizewinner at $7,000 for his piece ‘The Last Just’
Read the American-Statesman review of ‘New American Talent/Dance’ here.
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Review: ‘Civilization’ at Salvage Vanguard Theater
What with the problems of industrial farming, rampant consumerism, internet pornography, and a general loss of artistic integrity, twenty-first century civilization has a lot to contend with - at least according to “Civilization (All You Can Eat)” by Jason Grote, playing now through March 3rd at Salvage Vanguard.
Grote offers his audience a smorgasbord of cultural critique, serving up a familiar interweaving of scenes - that begin in chaos and eventually strain to some together - topped off with a healthy dollop of strange. The play follows a pair of actors who sell out and wash up, a mother arguing with her daughter about career choices and poor relationship decisions, a disillusioned couple striving to make sense of the universe… oh, and a very angry pig.
In this production, Salvage Vanguard showcases its reputation for talented designers. Connor Hopkins’ gritty urban set is a striking and ominous backdrop for Stephen Pruitt’s eerie lighting design. Jeff Mills’ exceptional sound design creates an aural montage that assaults the senses and shapes the supernatural texture of the performance. Adriene Mishler’s choreography is refreshing - she offers some captivating segues between scenes, highlighting movement and complementing the sound design.
Yet, in spite of the talented team, the show as a whole fails to cohere. As Mike (Michael Joplin), the former academic turned corporate seminar-leader, expounds - “making chaos work for your company” seems to be what Grote tries to do with his script. A chaotic pastiche of scenes eventually begins to come together, only to unravel again in the final scene. The result is disconcerting and chaotic, though interspersed with some poignant moments and performances.
As the feral, rampaging Big Hog, Jude Hickey delivers an intensity that (mostly) carries the scattered poetry of Grote’s script - the opening monologue drags more than I suspect any actor could carry - but once past that hump, Hickey’s performance radiates with the pent up rage of a caged animal. The climactic scene between Hickey and the disaffected vegan, Jade (Gricelda Silva), is stunningly ferocious. Mical Trejo has some nice moments as David (washed up actor number one), and Silva is always a joy to see on stage.
Effectively weaving high comedy with serious social commentary is challenging for the best of writers, and Grote’s play doesn’t quite achieve what it’s reaching for. The messages are mixed and muddled, leaving us a bit baffled and dissatisfied, wondering if it was something we ate.
‘Civilization’ continues 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays through March 3. Salvage Vanguard Theater, 2803 Manor Road. $15, Thursdays pay-what-you-can. www.salvagevanguard.com
Cate Blouke is an American-Statesman freelance arts critic.
Photo by Stephen Pruitt.
