Skink | 2001

Poster design: Pedro Silva

Groove Garden

Philadelphia Inquirer
July 3, 2001
By Miriam Seidel

Small-top circus packs big laughs

Now that he’s done it, it’s obvious: Staging a circus was the logical next step for Philadelphia choreographer Brian Sanders. Known for his inventive props and inspired humor, Sanders has taken the plunge to stage Skink, billed as a theatrical circus for kids; it runs through next weekend.

The location is also inspired: The flower-power themed Groove Garden, the club Shampoo’s outdoor space, already has a mini-big-top cloth roof. Sanders has long been willing to take his work out of standard spaces, having presented dances at Trocadero and Shampoo.

The fast-paced show – I counted a dozen or so skits in Saturday’s hour-long performance – really is aimed to please children, the younger the better. Sanders himself, as a mugging ringmaster, was supported by the three dancers of JUNK, the bouncy Tracy Alibrizzi, the deadpanning Jennifer McDonough, and the wonderfully rubber-faced Travis Mesman.

Circuses thrive on wonder and thrills. These were generated not by death-defying acts but by some very clever costumes, created by Sanders himself, and special effects. The stilt-walking Disco Cow (really more a giraffe than cow) and Skink (a polka-dot lizard) were costuming standouts. With the hidden human head powering its tail and vice versa, the Skink illustrated a kind of upside-downish principle that animates many moments. It’s traceable in part to Sanders’ training in “Momix-think” from his years with that company.

Other effects were both fun and fine visual jokes, from Alibrizzi’s oversize tennis balls floating in air, thanks to the jerry-rigged vacuum cleaner, to Mesman’s inflatable costume that urns him into a kind of giant, lime-green tennis ball. Sanders’ own star turn as an orchestra conductor strapped into ski boots, allowing him to lean out at crazy angles while he flaunted a beautifully spiraling, long-ribboned baton, put me in mind of Bugs Bunny’s classic classical-music spoofs – and that is high praise indeed.