SIX SOLOS: Legend, Myth & Nature

Conceived, Narrated and Performed by LYNN NEEDLE

Lighting Design/Stage Manager: STEPHEN PETRILLI

United Solo Festival 2021 New York
410 West 42nd Street (between Ninth & Tenth Avenues
October 28, 2021 @ 7:30 PM
https://unitedsolo.org/shows

One of the presentations of the United Solo Festival 2021 is Lynn Needle’s SIX SOLOS: Legend, Myth & Nature. It is an impressive work leaving no doubt that Needle knows her dance stuff. She is in total control of her 60-year-old body, utilizing every part to its full advantage. Starting with a metallic stretchy bag where no flesh can be seen, she creates images, shapes and forms that blend with the music perfectly. She moves on to Impromptu, a memorial to a lost child, and then Haunted, a jazz dance performed to a cacophony of sounds. The last trilogy (Forest, Monarch, Shakti) is a tribute to nature with beautiful elaborate costumes.

In between dances, Needle gives a little background material complete with personal anecdotes and behind-the-scenes tidbits. The only complaint I would voice is about the long period between dances while costumes are being changed. Perhaps she could record the narration and play them during the dance changes; then the audience could enjoy a fluid presentation of Lynn Needle’s talents. That would make the experience even more pleasurable.

- Laurie Lawson -