By Kerry Clawson
March 4, 2013
Akron Beacon Journal
The dance was wild, loose and earthy at the Creole Cinderella Mardi Gras party at the Akron Civic Theatre, performed Thursday by Neos Dance Theatre of Mansfield.
The seven-member company, joined by guest dancer Jens Lee Peterson, went all out with a woozy, tipsy, boozy flavor for this Dixieland-inspired, evening-length dance, performed last year in Mansfield and now making its Akron debut.
Created by resident choreographer Mary-Elizabeth Fenn, it is a delightful sendup of silent film, set in pre-World War I New Orleans. Katie Edmonds serves as the elegant narrator who struts like a Lipizzaner across the stage with black and white signs identifying key story elements.
At the Civic Theatre, an audience of 60 sat on the back half of the stage, looking out into the theater house and its starry dome. The dance troupe performed onstage, creating a theatrical experience with strong acting, cool costumes with masks, and artful lighting as well as a white scrim that dropped near the edge of the Civic stage, behind their playing space.
Read the full review at the Akron Beacon Journal.
