“TAKES is a gorgeously intimate piece…some moments so powerful that the audience-encouraged to circle the stage and switch chairs as desired-was visibly awed by the spectacle before them.”

I know better than to go to a Nichole Canuso show with any expectations … other than an expectation of awesome. Her 2008 contribution to the Live Arts Festival, Wandering Alice, was so vibrant and touching that I can still remember it like it was yesterday. One of the clearest memories I have of the performance is the sublime facial expressions of the woman playing Alice … who, as it turns out, is the choreographer herself. It is rare for a dancer to be so expressive, but Canuso uses it to great effect, in TAKES, as in Alice, telling as much of the story with her face as with her body. TAKES  is a gorgeously intimate piece—impressive for a production in a cavernous former warehouse in which Canuso performs a collection of scenes—takes—with Dito Van Reigersberg  and a host of projections. Canuso and Van Reigersberg move together well, and separately (with their projections) even better, with some moments so powerful that the audience—encouraged to circle the stage and switch chairs as desired—was visibly awed by the spectacle before them. Performed within the confines of the same translucent cube on which the projections shone (the media installation was designed by Lars Jan), TAKES isn’t for everybody, but it was certainly for me.

Festival Rating: While those not interested in modern dance or AV installations might find TAKES challenging, fans of typical Live Arts fare won’t be disappointed.

-Jillian Ashley Blair Ivey