Audience Reviews

AUDIENCE REVIEW: Monica Bill Barnes

Company:
Monica Bill Barnes

Performance Date:
Aug 14, 2008

Company
Monica Bill Barnes

Show / Event Name
Game Face

Performance Date
Aug 14, 2008

Venue / Location
Robert Wagner Jr. Park

Your Occupation:
Choreographer/ Dance educator

Last time you moved your body:
This morning

Have you ever seen this company/ before?
Tell us a bit about your history with this group/performer?
Yes, I've seen Monica's work at Dance New Amsterdam and have taken many of her dance classes since 2005 at DNA as part of the Modern guest artist series.

Why did you go to the show? What did you expect to see?
I went to support Monica Bill Barnes. I expected witty choreography that is encased in a postmodern vocabulary as well as fun characters.

What was your favorite moment(s)? What inspired you?
When all the dancers arranged themselves in a diagonal and there were passerbys trying to walk right through the performance. It was unexpected yet fitting for the piece. The bridge sequence where all the dancers lined up peering over while rocking out to the music was another fave moment.

Describe as plainly and as specifically as you can what you actually saw. We are going for description without judgement.
There is no need for complete sentences, phrases and word lists are fine. You can describe these elements or anything you can think of: the artists, the kinds of movement, the qualities of the movement, the use of the stage/space, the musicality/timing...
Deborah (she wore a liberty hat on) asked a tourist to take a picture of her and Monica.
4 dancers against the wall- starting with subtle movement that developed
Use of the space (bridge, lawn, benches, etc.)
Prom dresses
Running
Lip Synching
Singers
Kites attached to heads
Interactive

Do any images, colors or feelings pop into your head when you think about this show?
Lady Liberty
Tourists
Vintage
Children playing dress up
Free
Unassuming
Circular and angular
Silly

Describe any or all of these elements: music, lighting, the venue. - How did they contribute (or not) to your enjoyment of this performance?
The venue was perfect. On one side you saw tall buildings and on the other side you saw the Hudson River and the Statue of Liberty. They utilized the space and your eye was always looking for the dancers whenever they disappeared and reappeared.

Would you like to see this performance / company again? Would you recommend it to a friend?
Why or why not?
I would definitely see this company and recommend watching Monica Bill Barnes' work. Her movement vocabulary is postmodern, easy on the eyes but not boring, witty, and her themes she chooses are very engaging.

What would you like to have seen more of? Less of?
I would've liked to see more audience interaction especially with this site specific piece.

If you could, what would you ask the choreographer / dancers?
If you were given a ton of money to re-create this piece, what would you do differently? What would you add to it or subtract? What kind of costumes would you have? etc.