There’s lots to like about “American Me,” Striding Lion Performance Group’s playful take on American cultural cliches. Apple pie, baseball, and white picket fences, consumerism, obcession with beauty, and the maniacal pursuit of identity were all rides on the merry-go-round of Annie Arnoult Beserra’s choreographed discourse on everything from self-reliance to guns and violence, playing at Links Hall through April 27.
“American Me” is peppy and engaging from the get-go. Complimentary vintage bottles of Coke at the entrance and the 50’s jukebox-corner-diner decor set the tone, and American pop music kept an upbeat pace for a non-stop hour of surprises and fun.
The first thing to like about “American Me” is the originality of the choreography, a delightfully energetic mesh of modern forms, social dance vernacular, tumbling, and even ballet. I especially enjoyed Beserra’s bold, expansive movement style, her inventive use of every inch of the Links Hall space, and the ever-changing configurations of couple interactions. The six Striding Lion dancers gave Beserra‘s work a fresh, natural and technically polished performance.
Part of the fun of “American Me” was the element of surprise; you never knew what to expect next--maybe a scene, a theater game, a purely movement sequence, or a danced “lecture” with spoken text. For instance, “The Game Of Life” plunged the dancers into a theatrical scene with scripted dialogue, with the dancers suddenly seated around a table playing the board game, “Life.” The game devolves into a potlach-like frenzy that morphs into increasingly stylized movement. A potentially heavy-handed and old-hat message--materialism in excess drives American values and relationships--was mitigated by theatrical build and the humor of the scene.
Jeff Hancock’s whimsical denim patchwork cutaways and red, white, blue and yellow tunics and leggings enhanced Beserra’s light-hearted circus of self-examination. The piece didn’t take itself so seriously as to run aground on didactic agendas embodied in some of the texts, choosing instead to make its point with just enough tongue-in-cheek to be entertaining. Never mind a few iffy choices or missed targets, and forget that the performance had only peripheral connection to the director’s program notes. Beserra found a fast pace and catchy rhythm for the short segments that was easy to take, especially with Alex Benjamin’s excellent sound design so skillfully integrated into the structure of the work.
While the segments built in intensity and the stakes of relationships got higher, the ending let the air out of the whole venture with a sigh. The piece deserves more. Still, while the ideas behind “American Me” aren’t new, Besera’s fresh take on them and Striding Lion’s energetic delivery are infectious and worth watching.
Lynn Colburn Shapiro
April 21, 2014