'Running Show': Nexus between art and athletics

Monica Bill Barnes' & Company's "The Running Show" was performed on Saturday at the University at Albany. (Photo by Ben McKeown)

Dancers are a rare breed. They work their bodies endlessly – trying to achieve a move to perfection. And once there, they then place that move and countless others into a vision that will touch hearts, open minds or simply make its audience sigh, laugh or cry.
 
They are athletes.
 
Unfortunately, to the world at large, dancers and their dances are largely unsung, while the athletes are bestowed superhero status.
 
Monica Bill Barnes & Company makes the nexus clear in a revealing and engaging “The Running Show.” Choreographed by Barnes, this fantastic evening-length event, as seen at the University at Albany on Saturday night, leaves audience no doubt that dancers are athletes – and the care and training of their bodies is paramount to the art. And their passion for that art is ground into their soul.
 
The energetic Barnes, with backup dancing from retired dancer Mary DiSanto Rose, company rehearsal director Flannery Gregg and 14 Skidmore College dance students in baseball pants and muscle shirts, basically composed a love letter to dancers that said yes, we see you; yes, we know you; and yes, we appreciate you.
 
The key was Robbie Saentz de Viteri who served as the sports commentator for the show. As the combination of classical and pop music played and the dancers ran through their paces – sprinting, spinning, stretching — the baseball capped man at the microphone explained the mystery of it all. Calling himself “a chair person,” he  touted their abilities – numbering Barnes turns and speaking the  how age and injury modify goals while marveling at endurance – just like a commentator overseeing it all.
 
That was sprinkled with snippets of interviews from dancers age 5 to 70 that tried to explain what they were doing, what they were wearing and why they do it.
 
The interviews, played over the sneaker-wearing dancers punching or running in place, were often humorous. Yet they were also deeply sentimental, with the dancers Wendy Rogers, who spoke of her work with Sara Rudner (a former Twyla Tharp muse), and DiSanto Rose who reminisced about her work with Jeanne Brescianni (an Isadora Duncan acolyte). The associations were more than physical – they were spiritual. Her dancing cameo, as her interviewed played, amplified how fleeting moments on stage are built on a foundation of hours and days of sweat and striving.
 
Saentz de Viteri also spoke of the spiritual connection between sports teams and their fans, referencing the historic 2016 Chicago Cubs World Series win; and how homer in the ninth inning brought the beleaguered Cubs’ lovers, who hadn’t seen a series crown in more than a century, collectively to their feet.

Throughout all the chatter and music, Barnes is running in place and punching with a focus of a marathoner or prize fighter.
 
Dance is a sport. But I would add that it is harder – as they don’t learn one position well, they learn many. And it’s not just about physical achievement, it’s art. And it's long-past time for appreciation to grow.
 
Still there is a timeless reward for all dancers. Those who follow Terpsichore know they can conquer anything. Dancers, you know what I mean.