Verb Ballet Verb Pops & the World Premiere of Super Frie

[Jim O'Bryan]

[Phil Florian]

I just saw this over the past weekend. This was some amazing work. I am not a dance guy. I love theater for plays and musicals but I have never really gotten into dance. Until now, that is. I went at the request of a friend who knows one of the dancers and since it was so reasonably priced I figured I couldn't lose. Boy was I right. I gained a lot from that evening.

The one that excited me the most prior to going was "Superfriends." This was the piece that ended the show and was a madman's stew of pop cult references from Peter Pan to Batman to Bewitched. It was a lot of energy and fun but over all it was the weakest piece of the evening. The show opened with a fantastic tribute to the dawn of rock and roll with "Moondog." It was basically a Alan Freed show put to dance. Great music, amazing moves and lots of fun energy. It even had time for a slow tribute to Buddy Holly and instead of playing just a song they danced quietly to a bittersweet interview between Freed and Holly. Wonderful, indeed.

The topper of the evening was the one I had thought would be a big downer. It was called "Laura's Women" and it is a piece that explores mental illness using the music of Laura Nyro, someone I hadn't heard before (she is reminiscent of Carol King, I think...soulful and blues-heavy). This was the most outstanding piece and moved me nearly to tears (and I am a big lug that doesn't do that often). It was three women dressed in black on a bare stage. They danced various "moods" or states of one woman's mind. The music was stirring and the dance between the three was provocative and sensual on the one hand but then hectic, desperate and chilling the next.

The Verb has a new convert in me. I am told they have another show coming up at Playhouse square in the near future. I highly recommend checking them out. It seems like they were a good match with the Beck, too, where they spent the last few weeks rehearsing and providing master classes in dance to the Beck dancing students. They indicated this wouldn't be the last time that they worked together. Anyway, highly recommended.