Hombre was a contemporary dance show choreographed by Ana Cuellar. The show poster featured an anatomical drawing of a man’s musculature as he clutches his heart with beam of red light emanating outwards. The theater went dark and the first dance number had the entire cast on stage as they used their cell phones to light their way. Titled Monotony, the dance seemed to showcase the ways people are isolating themselves thanks to the distractions of the digital world. At times, the dancers literally could not be seen. It was thrilling, but impossible to catch in a sketch.
Ana doesn’t usually dance in the shows she choreographs, but she did appear in the middle of this Fringe show. She danced with Brett DeBeaulieu in a daring routine that featured plenty of strength and acrobatics. I have a renewed respect for Ana’s abilities as a dancer after seeing her leap through the air and tumble over Brett’s shoulders.
Original music in the show was by Alejandro Padilla and sung by Bruno Sanger. There was a dance that acted as a tribute to Pulse. The common theme running through this show was love and finding one’s self. The final routine was set to music based on a poem by Lori Aach called Essence. The back scrim turned a bright red. Twice, a dancer in a bright red dress danced with vestiges of flamenco passion. The goal was poetry in motion, and the combination of the arts’ forms suspended the audience for a rare moment between a sense of wonder and hope.