Choreography by Louise Reichlin & Alfred Desio
Music by Mike Craver and C.W. Thompson
Camunda was an Indian goddess of destruction. Although she is not mentioned in Ulysses’ travels, they might have made an interesting couple. This dance for nine modern dancers and a solo tap dancer is a wild romp to bluegrass music.
Press
"Creating an expectedly rich dance trilogy, Desio stuck two short works onto either end of "Merchants Lunch, or Ulysses Meets Camunda," a 1981 work he choreographed with company director Louise Reichlin. Desio's abstract paintings hung in midair as he tapped a shimmering path across the stage in "Fe Cega Faca Amolada II." Set to sparse guitar music (M. Sasciemento, R. Bastos), this dance served as metaphor for a journey into the loony cafe atmosphere of the antic group dance "Merchants Lunch." Jumbled events here sent Desio reeling into the dream world of "Untitled" where he tapped along behind three mysterious barefoot women leaping and circling through space. All disappeared without reason as the score crashed to a conclusion. (Credited simply as a tap-electronic improvisation, the score was created "live" by the sound of Desio's taps passing from special shoe microphones through offstage synthesizers and then amplified back to the audience.)"
"Merchants Lunch, or Ulysses Meets Camunda" which made its premiere last year, looks much improved this time around. It seems shorter, and the unlikely mixture of tap and modern techniques matches the unlikely situation in which Ulysses (Alfred Desio) finds himself. Lisa Moses played Camunda (Broadway Brenda) for laughs, and with his new Marine Corps haircut Desio looked delightfully bemused as she buried him in the folds of her voluminous red and black cape."
"Wildly theatrical and great fun!"
