“Movement is never neutral,” writes choreographer-scholar Meredith Ventura in her exhibit Slide on the Razor. Ventura’s work is radical, rebellious, witty, and sarcastic, juxtaposing elegant, oh-so-difficult choreography with slapstick humor and tragicomic dialogue. She is nothing short of a genius. Like 20th century choreographers who changed the course of dance such as Martha Graham, George Balanchine, and Jerome Robbins, Ventura is changing 21st century dance to its very core.
With Disco Elysium, as with her other works, Ventura invites audiences to experience the underground world of Radical Cabaret , “breaking the boundaries between theater, dance, and popular spectacle.”
The performance opens with Ashley Kohler straddling a chair, wearing a slinky red dress, one leg exposed. She glares at the audience, slowly looking from side to side, as we hear the opening song of Cabaret : “Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome … in Cabaret, oh Cabaret, to Cabaret!” The singer continues in a thick accent, “In here, life is beautiful. Ze girls are beautiful. Even zee orchestra is beautiful!” The company appears behind Kohler, wearing dark suits. She stands up on the chair … we hear the end notes of Cabaret: “auf Wiedersehen, à bientôt.” Then, with a drumroll, Kohler falls backwards into the waiting arms of the company, (playing) dead. As a few dancers lay her limp body on the ground and proceed to tape her outline onto the floor, the rest dance to the unlikely sounds of Guy Lombardo . The dead girl’s outline remains on the floor for the rest of the show.
