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Wesley Oliver Wesley's review of AfrosSocialiteLifeDiva at Dance Theatre Workshop This Diva Can Dance Cynthia Oliver doesnât try to represent the entire black community. Rather, with AfroSocialiteLifeDiva, she takes experiences specific to one race and expands them to cross all racial borders. Specifically, Diva gears itself toward the essence of a black woman÷her strength, her experiences, her relationships with her mother, her daughter, her sister. Generally, though, Diva serves as a point of familial reference for people of all races and genders. Through commanding text and gyrating, sinuous dance movements, Ms. Oliver, along with co-performers Reneeâ Redding-Jones, Cynthia Bueschel, Blossom Leilani and Maria Earle, embodies characters familiar to any person. For people unfamiliar with dance, like this critic, Ms. Oliverâs show is at first abstract, unfamiliar and hard to grasp. In addition, the first scene, ãIntroductionöshe is·ä in which one performer describes the qualities of a woman while the other four loudly shriek repeatedly doesnât make the experience much easier. But the text, which is straightforward and sharp, helps, and as the show continues and the viewer becomes gradually comfortable with the material, the ãI donât get itä turns into, ãYeah, my grandmother is like that.ä Ms. Oliverâs ethnically diverse background÷her father is West Indian and her mother is from Harlem÷is definitely reflected in her work. ãI had been in the habit of storytelling and focusing more on my Caribbean side.ä As a result, mirroring her background, Oliverâs work is a hybrid of cultural inspiration. This influx of culture does not seem forced, rather an important, inexorable part of Oliver, and thus, her work. That is what makes Oliverâs piece work÷her palpable, deep respect for her roots and the need for it to relate to her diverse audience. Further, by way of that, she not only represents the black community, but everyoneâs community. After watching this brilliantly unusual show, youâll agree that Ms. Oliver is a triple threat÷strong performer, superb writer and a gifted choreographer. |
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