Fame or Famine

Ok, I confess, that title has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that they were dancing tango. I certainly hope it won’t be the last time I see them dance…

Katie Lake and Sarah Thomsen shucked much of the traditional trappings of tango (sorry, alliteration seems to be the word of the day) and performed a partner dance as “Cayenne & Canela.” One of the neat things about the performance (aside from the fact that they did it down a staircase, a feat that left me open mouthed with amazement) was the way the lead kept “switching” between the two. Unlike the female-female tango in Carlos Suara’s movie of the same name, these two took turns supporting, directing, and controlling the direction of the dance.

It was a celebration of ganchos, lunges, and lifts, the two twirling around each other to the rapt attention of the crowd. As I mentioned, they were performing it down a staircase and then along a red carpet on top of a cement floor – hardly an ideal surface – but they covered the occasional unsure footing with grace and a direct focus on each other that simply crackled with sensual tension. And like Archana, while they were undeniably sexual (hot pants, stockings, and a fedora that changed between them along with the lead) it was not blatant or exploitative; it was a celebration of one of the things that makes us most human. 

If I’m lucky, today I’ll get to see them perform again with EQLateral. More on them later.

Comments Off