UNDER HER SKIN (Jeanine McCain): 2015 Fringe review 16

Under Her Skin fringe review Jeanine McCain
Photo by Amy Laudenslager.

The story begins with objects representing pieces of a woman’s memory: a paper-crafted carousel, a deep-blue kaleidoscope, a brooch, a disk of “Silent Night” for a music box. A dancer sitting at one corner of the Performance Garage gently picks up jewelry boxes one by one and opens them as if she is looking into her (or her mother’s or her grandmother’s) happy and intimate memories. She lets the viewers open a box and see what’s inside to share the memory with him or her as well. As the audience walks along the brick walls of the garage, the secret reveals itself little by little.

UNDER HER SKIN is an intimate and interactive “multi-media” dance-theater piece where the choreographer, Jeanine McCain, shares an intimate secret of her great grandmother’s life.  While dancers’ army-like marches or chic and sassy walks express what was, and is, expected of women by society, movies projected on the dancers’ white dresses visualize their hidden personal life and dreams. Music composed by Garrett Hope adds nostalgic color by quoting a personal music piece: McCain’s grandfather singing “Mona Lisa” at a piano bar 30 years ago. The shadowy garage, the interactive installations, the nostalgic sounds and the expressive dancers combine to let the audience experience the life of an independent woman.

[Performance Garage, 1515 Brandywine Street] September 4-5, 2015; fringearts.com/under-her-skin.

 

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