The Reviews Archive

A Postmodern Attempt

Chicago’s Cocodancegroup’s choreographer/producer, Liana Percoco, says that she tries to “create work in the ‘post-modern dance idiom' that not only has a thought provoking element, but that at its core is entertaining.” Percoco and Cocodancegroup are striving to do that at the 2007 Boulder International Fringe Festival this week in the Boulder Dairy Center for the Arts Carsen Theatre. Admittedly the Carsen provides the absolute minimum, for presentation of dance, i.e., a small stage with an unsprung wooden floor, a minimal light plot with no sides, etc., but Cocodancegroup probably would not have gotten to any “thought provoking elements” or “entertainment” in the Eisenhower Theatre at the Kennedy Center. Monday August 20th’s presentation of their Fringe concert, “You, ME, Brittany Spears, and a Pair of Blue Headphones” was, like its title, long and tedious. The concert of eight works includes four long, badly made videos, several of them of women who can’t sing, singing, all projected onto a sheet with no effort to edit out DVD tables of content, or technical messages, such as “the projector is overheating.” Four live dance works are also extended way past any performance life, and for the most part reveal any “postmodern” aspects only in that they are more pedestrian than Yvonne Rainier’s “Trio A.”

Cocodance does get an “A” for bravery and guts in that they got here and put their show up. One dance work, “I hate solos (a person in progress),” was danced competently by Percoco, but even it went past tolerance. Percoco’s presence was woven through the whole concert as dancer, choreographer, musician (playing saxophone technical studies), etc. The final work, “I’ve Been Told I look Like Britney Spears,” seemed designed to spoof celebrities (as well as celebrity look-alikes). It required not only dance abilities, which were not demonstrated, but acting abilities as well, which were painfully absent.

Two of the live works Coocdancegroup presented were listed in their program as "in progress.” I constantly wonder about artists who charge me for a ticket, and only then reveal their work is not finished. Cococdancegroup will present more concerts in the Fringe. You can see their schedule at www.boulderfringe.com.

Donald K. Atwood MFA, Ph.D. atwood@worlddancereviews.com

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