Storyline

Tell me a fact and I’ll learn. Tell me a truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever. Italian Proverb

Two years ago, Mia Michaels lost her father to lung cancer. She grieved, I suppose, as any loving daughter would, but Mia Michaels is not just any loving daughter. She’s a gifted and renowned choreographer. Last night on the TV show, So You Think You Can Dance, she paid tribute to her father, Joe Michaels, who was also her first dance teacher, in a remarkable piece where she imagined getting the chance to see him one more time. The dancers, the judges and most of the audience were too choked up to talk.

One thing I’ve noticed in watching this show in its third season is that the dances tell a story. More and more I am coming to realize that what we do as human beings is tell stories and the stories come out in different ways. Choreographers tell them through dance.

I first started paying attention to our need for story when I ready Daniel H. Pink’s book, A Whole New Mind, where he identifies the ability to tell stories as one of the necessary skills for the 21^st century. Once I started paying attention, I noticed stories everywhere. I noticed especially how telling stories can elevate just about any situation. What made Cirque du Soleil’s Corteo more than just a collection of circus acts was the storyline of the performance. Not surprisingly, Mia Michaels was tapped to choreograph the Cirque du Soleil show, Delirium.

We all tell stories and, as author Natalie Goldberg said, “Your first job is to get your own story straight.“ How you tell it is up to you. There’s a famous story about a man passing by a construction site. He stopped and asked one of the tradesmen what he was doing. The worker replied gruffly, "I'm laying bricks, can't you see that?" The man watched a while longer and then asked another worker what he was doing. "I'm just earning a living," he replied. A third time the man asked a worker and the response was much different, "I'm building a cathedral."

Using our work to tell our stories is a way of putting heart and soul and love into our work. It makes the difference between laying bricks and building a cathedral. Mia Michaels is building a cathedral.

© Copyright 2007 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Simpsonized!
"Doh." Homer Simpson

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Peak Performance

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me'."
--Erma Bombeck

In August of 1964 I saw the Beatles live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre and that has been the crowning moment of my life. No show I’ve seen since, musical or theatrical, came close to matching the experience of that performance. Until Saturday night. That’s when, thanks to my friend Sheila, her daughter Michelle and son-in-law Dayn, I saw my first Cirque du Soleil show, Corteo.

Wow.

I’ve been a fan of Cirque du Soleil for many years. I’ve watched them on TV and in 2004, I even watched a series on A&E, Cirque du Soleil Fire Within, about how they develop a show, from recruiting performers and finding music to rehearsals and launch, a fascinating study of the creative process in action. I read a book, CIRQUE DU SOLEIL® THE SPARK: Igniting the Creative Fire That Lives Within Us All. But I never actually went to see them live and in person, although I wanted to. The tickets were expensive and I didn’t have anybody to go with, blah, blah, blah.

When they launched the new show, Love, featuring Beatles music last year, I thought the time had finally come. Although I wasn’t willing to go to Las Vegas to see it, I figured it was only a matter of time until they had a touring version that came to Denver.

Then Sheila called to tell me her husband couldn’t make it and ask if I would like to be her date. YES!

It was magical. From silliness in the audience before the show started to the final curtain call, they kept the entire audience enthralled. Most of us have seen traditional circuses and, if you’re old enough, you saw individual circus acts on Ed Sullivan. Many of the acts in Cirque du Soleil are traditional circus acts, but the music, costumes and storyline tie them all together and the brilliant staging and set design make them transcend anything else I’ve ever seen.

Now I’ve ordered the book and the DVD from my local library with the idea that I will enjoy them more than ever, now that I’ve seen a show. And I don’t think I’ll miss another show they bring to town. If I have to, I might even venture to Sin City.

Corteo is the unlikely story of a funeral, with all the deceased friends showcasing their best talents in tribute to their departed loved one. In case you’re still around when the time comes, that’s what I want at my funeral. That and a lot of Beatles music.

© Copyright 2007 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved