Review: 'Break a Heart' is a little silly, a little loungy, with a little to love

Dance review |

"Break a Heart" bills itself as "a loungy, alcohol-soaked cabaret on the theme of love." What it is is a very mixed bag of Seattle silliness without a lounge singer or martini glass in sight — although there is some fairly shrill karaoke.

Still, this lineup of work by eight choreographers has its moments.

Wade Madsen's solo, "Enchanted Prince," finds him in mime mode, in a costume and makeup reminiscent of David Bowie's "Scary Monsters" phase. Out of a traveling case, he elicits props and doodads that match the lyrics he's lip-syncing. The tunes are by Shirley Horn (sassily sentimental) and Antony & the Johnsons (in full expressionist despair). There's some real wit and precision to this lovelorn-clown routine.

MouseBones' "give it I got it" has fun with over-the-top and surprisingly versatile Valentine-themed costumes. It also explores an absurd disconnect between a solemn piano accompaniment and some goofy dance moves, featuring one swell stage-trick. Then it fades out on a note of post-performance Q&A inanity. We're in sketch-comedy territory here, but the punch isn't quite punchy enough.

More serious and more successful is Crispin Spaeth's "for," in which six dancers keep pairing off in ever-changing couples. Each has a different weight, a different feel: warm, aggressive, precariously balanced, clingy. The idea is a strong one, mostly well-executed, and given a truly impressive finale by Scott Davis and Alex Loch.

In Sara Jinks' "Heavy Heart," Kate Kerschbaum and Sandra Fann build a duet out of restless sleep postures and pillow play, while in Diane Cardiff's "Don't Hit Me No More," Heather Coyle and Michele Miller use their black-belt expertise in Kajukenbo kung fu to fuse mutual abuse with mutual embrace. Both "Heart" and "Hit" feel like seeds for longer, more substantial pieces rather than satisfying works in themselves.

The other items on the program simply feel sloppy. On the Boards has had one heck of a dance season so far, when you think of Whim W'Him's "3Seasons," Bruno Beltrão's "H3" and some of the extraordinarily good items in "The A.W.A.R.D.S. Show." (If you want silliness, Deborah Wolf's "The Hipdeep Family" is the wizardly way to do it.)

By contrast, too much in "Break a Heart" feels slapped together for an in-crowd of local performers who are a little too ready to laugh at one another's jokes.

Michael Upchurch: mupchurch@seattletimes.com