What's fun about Suchu Dance's newest opus, Masters of Semblance, is that it isn't exactly new, but culled from several of artistic director Jennifer Wood's greatest hits. As Houston's most prolific choreographer, Wood had no shortage of material to work with.
To add in more fun, she's changed up the costumes and music.
Will her fans recognize her re-configured choreography? Stay tuned, there will be a quiz and a prize.
For veteran Suchu dancers like Lindsey Sarah, the experience proved a walk down memory lane, while for newbie Shanon Adams, it was top to bottom all new moves for her.
For Wood, the recycling process lent a touch of freedom. Instead of generating movement, she got to play dance DJ, mix-mastering some of the works she wanted to see again. For all those Suchu fans who have been begging Wood to see this or that piece again, Masters of Semblance, should have a cool deja vu feel. For those new to Wood's twist on contemporary dance, it will be great way to see the range and breadth of one of Houston's most beloved dance artists.
Suchu shows excerpts of Masters of Semblance at the Spacetaker "SOLD OUT" gala Saturday at Spring Street Studios and the show runs March 24-April 3 at Barnevelder Movement Arts Complex. Join us for sneak peek of Suchu "soup" below.
"Art and About" with CultureBro Joel Luks and CultureSis Nancy Wozny, explores how Suchu Dance recycles past works into a new dance:
Director Sam Raimi has gone through different phases as a filmmaker, including leading the first Spider-Man trilogy and joining the MCU with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. But he first gained notice with the gory and funny Evil Dead movies, a sensibility he’s returning to with his latest film, Send Help.
Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) is a meek and eccentric middle manager at a financial firm that’s just named Bradley Preston (Dylan O’Brien) as its new nepo CEO. Bradley’s dad had promised Linda a promotion to vice president, but she gets passed over in favor of one of Bradley’s frat buddies, sending her into a mild rage. Still, she gets invited along on a planned business trip to Thailand, during which she hopes to prove her worth.
Unfortunately for most of the passengers on the private plane, it crashes into the ocean, leaving only Linda and Bradley alive on a deserted island. Linda, who has privately developed survival skills, adapts quickly to the forbidding environment, while Bradley tries to revert to bossing her around. But Linda quickly understands the power dynamic has shifted, and she uses this knowledge to try to keep Bradley in line, turning their stranding into a battle of wills.
Directed by Raimi and written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, the film is the classic “so bad it’s good” kind of experience. McAdams, inarguably an attractive and charming person, is given stringy hair, an antisocial personality, and quirks like eating tuna fish at her desk to make her as off-putting as possible. Bradley, along with almost everyone else at her office, is stereotyped just as hard in order to set up the twist of fate.
When the action shifts to the island, things get even more over the top. The audience has already been primed for Linda to demonstrate her survival expertise, but the film does way more than just show her making fire. Whether it’s flawlessly building a shelter or hunting a wild boar, everything Linda does is portrayed in a slightly off-kilter manner. Then they turn everything up to 11, indulging in gore that is so unnecessary that you can’t help but laugh.
The filmmakers prove they’re in on the joke the rest of the way, including a variety of preposterous but hilarious scenarios that would cause massive eyerolls if they were actually trying to take the film seriously. While they do a great job of showing Linda’s ability to handle herself in the wild, they also show that she is somehow the only person in the world who could get a glow up after a plane crash and weeks living in nature.
McAdams, an Oscar-nominated actor for Spotlight, is way too high class for a movie like this, which makes her presence here all the more interesting. She is all-in on whatever Raimi wants her to do, and she’s at her most fun when she goes the animalistic route. O’Brien, who was great in the recent Twinless, doesn’t get as much of an opportunity to show his range, but he still proves to be an interesting foil for her.
Were it released in any other month, Send Help might be looked at as bottom of the barrel material. But with the movie year just getting started, it’s easier to forgive its outrageous plot twists and just have fun, especially since Raimi and his team put the rest of the film together so well.
