Turtle Dreams (Cabaret) (1986)

Production

The image of the city - and, by implication, the real world we live in - was also emphasized in ''Turtle Dreams (Cabaret).'' But before such imagery was introduced, the piece appeared to be pure artifice. Indeed, it was a sort of abstract cabaret. Like conventional cabarets, revues or floor shows, it offered a string of musical and choreographic ''routines,'' composed by Miss Monk and choreographed by her and Gail Turner. Yet whereas most revue songs and sketches, however frivolous, can be said to be about something, it was difficult to tell what, if anything, Miss Monk's divertissements were about. Miss Turner put the fingers of her hands together in one solo and simply let them move in various pulsating rhythms . A duet for two men consisted of variations on slouching patterns. Faceless entertainers wearing big wigs shook themselves about. A cha-cha contained sneeze-like convulsions. And when a master of ceremonies made a few remarks, they were not entirely comprehensible.

-- "Dance View; Meredith Monk Salutes the Familiar," Jack Anderson, New York Times, May 18, 1986
April 22 – 27, 1986
PROD.1986.0032

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