“Witty, Entertaining and thought-provoking”
—Canada’s National post
Cheap — Leg Up (1999-2010)
4 dancers, 13 minutes
Created for the company’s 10th Anniversary Season, this delightful occasion piece interweaves a trio and a solo made eight years apart but both inspired by early films of variety dancers. In the spirit of vintage vaudeville, the dancers get into gear with a series of high kicks and throughout the piece keep plopping into splits.
Jody Sperling’s solo feats, which include squirming through a rope, walking her fingers on a tightrope and rolling her belly, are performed with deadpan demeanor calculated to charm and startle the viewer.
CHOREOGRAPHY: Jody Sperling
MUSIC: Quentin Chiappetta & Roberto Pace
COSTUMES: Michelle Ferranti
LIGHTING: David Ferri
“Witty, entertaining and thought-provoking . . . a comic acrobatic dance gone awry, as Sperling becomes entangled in a cord she’s attached to her ankle. The image of female bondage makes it less amusing, especially as the audience laughter simply confirms the moral of the piece: what women will do to please and impress.”
—Michael Crabb, Canada’s National Post
“[The dancers] wrap themselves around one another, forming bouquets of legs, solving challenges in three-dimensional design – geometry problems come to life.”
—Elizabeth Zimmer, Gay City News