Thy Hand, Britney

There is something about ephemeral one-time-only cultural events which make me a little sad. Artists, musicians, dancers...whomever...put an exceptional amount of work that will be heard by as many people as the publicity allows for...sure when it is a surprise performance of U2 it is huge and an event and sold out, but when it is a smaller dance company performing at a random auditorium, you feel like a lot of people have missed out.

Such was the case on March 19 when Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects presented Dido & Aeneas with members of the Orchestra of St. Luke's at LaGuardia High School near Lincoln Center. Sure, this is the FAME high school, and Mostly Mozart and Lincoln Center Festival have programmed events there, but it is still your standard ugly cinder block high school, and the pall of grumpy pubescence lingers.

Jody Oberfelder's up-to-the-minute retelling of the classic tale of doomed lovers Dido and Aeneas was entertaining, and short to boot. I have issues with artists who are too topical, unless that is the way they roll - Banksy can be a topical artist because that is what he (she?) is. A choreographer should be more careful. This version of Dido & Aeneas took place in the present day, with the two leads celebrities hounded by paparazzi, witty magazine headlines projected above them as they danced.

However, the media's destruction of celebrity couples, or at least their relentless pursuit of the perfect picture of them, has a slightly dull quality to it. The novelty of seeing the ups and downs of Brangelina or K-Fedney or that gay Scientologist and his brain-washed wife has become part of our pop culture consciousness, and the role the media, and in turn the public, play in their demise, has been dissected and implicitly accepted - the only recent example of the public tsk-tsking itself came after Heath Ledger died, when after a week of lurid headlines, we collectively said, "Wait this is a little gross. Let's find out what Britney's doing."

It is probable that I had an issue with this re-telling also because I am familiar with Mark Morris' version of Dido & Aeneas, a version which is far more traditional (despite Mark himself originating the role of Dido and The Sorceress!). I think Mark Morris is one of the most exceptional artists working today, and I will probably want L'Allegro performed at my death bed (note to self - die in exceptionally large room), so it is difficult for me to summon an image of Dido & and Aeneas that doesn't have Craig Biesecker looking like a god:

The questionable inspiration of the piece itself aside, the execution was great fun. Jody Oberfelder's choreography is a mixture of classical movement here, the Mashed Potato there, and the skills of individual performers are thrown into the mix - one dancer flipped and tumbled around on stage like a Russian gymnast, and another - the charismatic Carlton Ward (looking dashing in picture to the right) - danced impressively on stilts. The piece never took itself too seriously.

The musicians from St Luke's were good, and the singing was fine, though the music is so strong it is relatively difficult to ruin it. I'm not sure anyone has come up with a better final 8 minutes of music for an opera, and I'm including Tristan and Wozzeck in that.

I am hoping that this was a "special event" as advertised, perhaps something of a workshop performance, and that it will get a more proper run in a space that doesn't make me start humming The Wiz.