Best Local Dance Production
Orts in The Park
READERS' PICK: Like the monsoon rains or the blooming of the saguaro cactus, Orts in The Park is something special reserved for Tucsonans who tough out the summer heat. As twilight fades over Reid Park, the strange rhythms and ethereal lighting of an Orts production cast a spell over the audience sitting among the trees and grass at DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center. With stars overhead and a first-class modern dance company before you, nothing beats an evening like this--except to learn that it's free!READERS' POLL RUNNER-UP AND STAFF PICK: Tenth Street Danceworks in Reid Park, September 1994. Maybe it was the black Cadillac that delivered the dancers to the outdoor amphitheater stage just after intermission, or the way the Tenth Streeters danced upside down in the Caddy's back seat or the way they bowed to the television on stage when they finally marched up there to Army chants. Then again maybe it was the moment the Tucson Police Department SWAT Team swung down from the rafters and carried the dancers away. Or maybe it was all the eclectic virtuoso dancing that came in between--from ballet-like turns set to French choral music to the jerky math dance set to Laurie Anderson. Or maybe it was all of it put together that added up to a simply wonderful concert. Tenth Street, led by Charlotte Adams, carefully assembled the perfect combination of pieces calculated to work in a big outdoor space filled with serious dance aficionados and wandering toddlers alike. It was funny, it was solemn, it was a gas.
