Upon entering the Bernie West Theater at the Baruch Performing Arts Center to see the 79 year old Beverly Blossom perform The Incomplete Lament of an Old Dancer, the usher instructs audience members to choose a crumpled up, or wrinkled, program from the table.
The lights come up. Beverly Blossom enters, robed in black, holding two large bouquets of red roses. A melodramatic aroma permeates the theater. Ms. Blossom's stentorian voice brings a theatricality of another time. Her performance of The Incomplete Lament of an Old Dancer has one wondering how a person of age 79, wrinkles and all, does it. The first part of the piece has Ms. Blossom in dialogue with a cello from her deceased sister. The cello and Ms. Blossom dance together, as if she is dancing with her sister. The music is from the great composers: Beethoven, Vivaldi, Ravel and others. Her movements are intentional and timed, interspersed with honest, witty text. The piece becomes a eulogy for Ms. Blossom's influences. At one stunning moment, she moves her arm across the space naming the modern dance 'greats' she worked with through the years including Martha Graham, and probably her strongest influence, Alwin Nicolais.
The piece moves on to include Ms. Blossom as Odette from SwanLake. This is her swan song. Her limbs cascade through the space in varying rhythm. Ms. Blossom dons a red grim reaper's cloak, reciting T. S. Eliot's Ash Wednesday. There are more red roses tossed to the stage floor. The entire experience leaves one feeling Ms. Blossom has been performing at her own wake. It's clear throughout the piece that many people Ms. Blossom grew close to have now passed away. She is living as if straddling two existences, one foot in life and one in death. Her piece resonates with the darkness, humor, and complexity of this precarious time in Beverly Blossom's life.
As a complement to Ms. Blossom's Lament, Cynthia Pipkin-Doyle, one of Ms. Blossom's proteges, performs Black Traveler, from 1961. Robed in a Martha-Graham-esque black hooded cape, the piece begins only lightly melodramatically. It then builds along with the 1930's cartoon music accompaniment to be a rip-roaring rollicking good time on a train car. This piece highlights Ms. Blossom's comic timing and imagination. Images of the three stooges and Charlie Chaplain emerge. Ms. Doyle brings the images to life and at times, separates her body parts underneath the cloak as if she is two different people all at the same time.
Ms. Doyle continues her own comedic air in Ms. Blossom's next work, Stylish Girl. Full of campy choreography and a large hat made of egret's feathers, this piece, although fun, has too much repetition.
The fascinating Interlude presented old-time photos of presumably Beverly Blossom and fellow performers. The photos were projected onto a swaying white sheet and gave another level of dimension and depth to the entire evening.
Ms. Blossom continues in her 'schtick' with Besame Mucho. For this piece, she has clothed herself in half-woman, half-man dressings. There is a moustache and thick eyebrows for the man and red hair and a long gown for the woman. The two dance, snuggle and tease each other. It is an optical illusion that could be interesting for hours. Ms. Blossom has perfected the movements of man and woman, making it difficult to believe it is really her behind both of them.
The evening brings an air of history; an air of Charlie-Chaplin, Martha Graham, and Alwin Nickolais. But it is impossible to forget that the one who brings it all to us for the evening is Beverly Blossom.
Beverly Blossom
Bernie West Theater
Baruch Performing Arts Center
17 Lexington at 23rd St
New York, NY
Sept 15, 16, and 17, 2005
www.beverlyblossom.com