Full disclosure: I saw Poetics: A Ballet Brut for the first time in September 2006 in Portland, Oregon. I had no expectations for the performance, knew nothing about Nature Theater of Oklahoma, and bought a ticket because of a sexy promotional picture I saw of the company. (Yes that was all it took). That night I fell in love and it has been bliss ever since. What starts out as a series of deconstructed actions rotating between actors becomes the language for the show. The various pairings of one female and three male actors creates an endless number of love triangles for the audience to invent and dissect. These relationships persist and the vernacular expands until these actions are appropriated by what I can only assume implies the mainstream culture. I read the show as an abstraction of the act of creation (an optimistic one) with one awesome ending.
Enhancing the show's strong acting is a soundtrack so amazing (everything from Abba to Michael Jackson) that I can't believe I forgot about it since the last time I saw Poetics. Needless to say it was a delight to rediscover. So compelling is the music that at some moments members of the audience seated next to me began pumping their fists high in the air as their favorite song came on. Even the second time around, this show may have been more beautiful than when I first saw it. And who says love isn't forever?
Fall in love with Nature Theater of Oklahoma, Poetics: A Ballet Brut
The Public Theater 425 Lafayette Street
January 10 - 20, visit www.undertheradarfestival.com for times
$15 tickets: publictheater.org or 212.967.7555
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