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She
Wolves: A Hybrid Journey of Women Through Time
BY RONALD MANGRAVITE
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offbeat theater is going on in downtown Miami, where
adventurous companies La Lucha and Artemis have joined
forces to produce She Wolves: A Hybrid Journey of Women
Through Time. This challenging multimedia performance
piece uses poetry, dance, and video to examine the images
of women in different historical contexts. Raquel Almazan,
who is also the writer, heads the three-woman cast;
her ambitious goal is to depict "the history of
women in all their major themes." |
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Divided
into four parts, the show is concept- rather than narrative-driven.
Almazan and her cohorts, Diana Lozano (who also directs)
and Paola Navia, depict a series of character types -- the
Warrior, the Corsetted Lady, the Modern Business Woman,
and the Futuristic Virgin Stripper, whatever that is. The
curvy, bounteous Almazan isn't shy about revealing herself,
both physically and in her poetic and sometimes-profane
language. Early video clips have her cavorting nude in the
woods; the stage costumes emphasize her points about female
sexuality and exploitation.
The
production includes inventive costumes, expressive dance
sequences, and a weird fun-house set, festooned with female
mannequin body parts and plastic bags of blood taped to
the black walls. This is an unusual, compelling theatrical
event, but the text could use some work. The flowery language
tends to drag on and often fights for attention with the
complex visuals and movement. It's also rather humorless
and derivative: Most of Almazan's radical-feminist points
are older than she is. More to the point, this show takes
on women's issues but only from the point of view of a very
young person, completely ignoring such issues as motherhood,
aging, sexual preference, and generational community. It's
more than a little pretentious for Almazan to lay claim
to women's history without venturing beyond her own preoccupations
and experience. Still She Wolves delivers a white-hot performance
energy and a bold imagination.
Fuente:
New Times
Enero 2003
Teatro en Miami
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