it’s my party, and u can cry if u want to @Very Good Dance Theatre (Arts Mission Oak Cliff)
Photo credit: Christopher Sonny Martinez
—Jill Sweeney
Cards on the table: I feel a little out of my depth with this review, being not only a cisgender white woman one minivan away from soccer mom status, but also lacking in anything resembling a dance background.
Lucky for me, then, that the members of the Very Good Dance Theatre (VGDT) have made a show that pushes boundaries while still striving to remain accessible to all comers. Written and choreographed collaboratively by the ensemble, it’s my party, and u can cry if u want to is a lovely, non-linear exploration of memory and joy, expressed through linked vignettes incorporating movement, scripted performance, and song—along with a healthy dose of audience participation.
The result is a funny, thoughtful meditation on what we’ve lost, especially in the last few years, and what we all hope to regain.
The immersive nature of the piece is immediate and total from the moment the audience arrives at the venue. A party is about to happen—or is it happening now? Could there be two parties?—and we’re all invited to one or both. Yet the hosts, ensemble members William Acker and Quinn Coffman, seem at odds about everything, fostering a sense of uncertainty as they and other ensemble members rush in and out with mascara pouring down their cheeks, frantically prepping for some kind of celebration.
And it could be any celebration, given that the space is decked out for Christmas, Easter, a birthday, a graduation, etc. The audience, seated at tables framing the performance space, are asked to fill out “offering cards” responding to printed questions: “Who do you love?” “Who do you miss?” “What does community mean to you?” Contemplating these questions in a space that suggests the celebrations we’ve missed out on in the last few years seems an effective way to open the audience to some larger ideas the piece will explore.
An audience member is called up to eulogize “Simpler Times,” after which the ensemble moves through various set pieces, sometimes acting, sometimes dancing. A group of children jump wildly while others stargaze; the stars themselves are created and perhaps destroyed; teens gather by a fire to tell spooky stories. At times, questions are posed through voiceover for the audience to contemplate. Throughout, guest directors Sasha Maya Ada, Whitney Latrice Coulter, and Nick Leos give each ensemble member a chance to shine.
Quinn Coffman’s portrait of a mother explaining divorce to her children is wrenching, as is irving eduardo’s turn as one of her children. Bwalya Chisanga moves throughout with beautiful fluidity, and is convincingly bewildered as a child seemingly abandoned on Christmas morning, until subjected to Elaina Alspach’s reverse-strip-tease transformation into a towering Christmas tree (with assistance from Acker and Calhoun). It’s a show stopper.
The piece comes most clearly into focus in the final segment; the dreamlike action halts for Acker to deliver a pained monologue on the loss of his father, detailing his induction into the club no one ever wants to join. The audience is invited to share best memories of their own fathers, and to join in a dance of joy and mourning. It’s here that VGDT founder Colby Calhoun is given their own moment to shine, showcasing a phenomenal singing voice in a gorgeous performance of “Goin’ Home,” a traditional tune used in Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9.
Founded in 2018 by Calhoun, VGDT seeks, in its own words, “to reflect the gray areas and/or the intersectionality of the human experience, and we magnify this by working in and out of multiple disciplines of performance.” The group participated in the 2018 Festival of Independent Theatres in 2018, and were lauded by my former TheaterJones colleague Frank Garrett as the “Best Physical Theatre of 2019.”
Thankfully, the group doesn’t seem to have let the pandemic slow its momentum: they participated in the AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Elevator Project in May 2021, and now are among the first group of Artists in Residence at Arts Mission Oak Cliff.
it’s my party, and u can cry if u want to will not be everyone’s cup of tea, and, in candor, I didn’t anticipate that it would be mine. But I took a pause; I remembered; I smiled; my eyes welled up. What more can you ask of a piece of art? This is the last offering of the group’s residency in Oak Cliff; I look forward to seeing what comes next.
With performances on December 16th-18th at 8pm at Arts Mission Oak Cliff; more info at https://www.verygooddt.com/
