Theatre Review: Sweetly Sensual
“Bellydance Fusion Factory”, produced by Troupe Duende (part of the KC Fringe Festival): seen July 20, 2012
Bellydance is like burlesque for the whole family. It has a long tradition, is more than just dance, and can be funny and sexy and sweet.
The Friday evening performance of Troupe Duende was titled “Fire and Ice”, and it was an evening of (approximately) 13 dances to a wide range of music, from your stereotypical bellydance music to techno to a fun piece to Adele’s “Rumor Has It”. The outfits (I hesitate to call them costumes) were beautiful, with everything from shiny sequins to dresses that made even a dress-hater like me want to wear one.
It was by no means perfect. There were a few times the dancers had to let the lighting person know they were ready to go (and even one time where the two dancers on stage had to have the rest of the troupe call back stage for a third), it was hard to take the one to Carl Orff serious since that song has been so overused, the opening lost a lot of its appeal due to the daylight streaming through the windows and killing any effect the lighting was having, and near the end it started getting a little repetitious to me.
However, the dancers (especially the director, Amy Jo) were so obviously having fun and enjoying it, I was able to forgive the disorganization. In fact, the dance Amy Jo did by herself was probably my favorite: her bottom half seemed separate from her top, and I swear she has no bones the way she was able to move each part of her body individually.
The emcee mentioned that this was the first time performing for some of the dancers, but for the most part the choreography was spot on and together. They were sensual and sweet at the same time, and had each other’s back.
Troupe Duende performs four more times during the 2012 KC Fringe (and tonight’s performance was mentioned to be a bit more mature), and tickets are $5. For more information, visit the KC Fringe Festival’s website.
This review has been (partially) posted to the KC Stage review system. Agree or disagree? You can rate / review this show yourself (requires free registration) by going to fringe.kcstage.com (where every review gets you put into a drawing for prizes).