For Bowen McCauley, the Light Side Is the Right Side

By  Sarah Kaufman

Thursday
May 3, 2001
page C14
The Washington Post 

"We're here to fill that gaping void in the a capella-modern-dance ooh-vruh," Paul Sabourin of the vocal quartet Da Vinci’s Notebook slyly announced, intentionally manglingthe word oeuvre (which fully deserves to be mangled.)

Five minutes later, it was clear that the void had been filled. Just where had modern dance been all these years without a cappella accompa-niment?

Credit Bowen McCauley Dance with stepping out there ahead of the curve. Founder Lucy Bow-en McCauley plans a continuing collaboration with Da Winci’s Notebook, the hilarious first in-staiiment of which the two groups performed Tuesday night at the Robert E. Parilla Perform-ing Arts Center at Montgomery College in Rock-ville. McCauley and the singers—all of them Ar-lington-based—were brought together through the Arlington Arts Council, and a happier part-nership you won’t find on the local arts scene. McCauley often boldly winks at dance conven-tions—upending her dancers, swishing their backsides, adding a note of slapstick here and there—while crooners Greg "Storm" DiCostan-zo, Richard Hsu, Bernie Muller-Thym and Sabou-rin have carved out a cozy niche for themselves in the shameless parody-comic cover category.

"Stuck in the Middle With You" formed the laugh-till-it-hurts centerpiece of the otherwise sjraightforward dance program. After gettingthe audlence to join in a singalong of the "Jeopardy!" theme (with key changes) and killing more cos-t~ne-changing time with DiCostanzo’s reminis-cences of a 7-Eleven, a little boy and a strategically positioned mustard plunger, the group launched into a heavily hainmed rendltion of the title tune by Stealers WheeL
‘McCauley strutted on, copper-colored hair piled on her head, inatank top and slouchypants, ~ctinglike a tiny, topknotteddominatrix. She was not at all cowed by the four mike-wielding, heavy-footed and decidedly ungraceful types hulking over her, even as they logrolled her across the stage with a few (fake) sneaker nudges.

"Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here lam," they sang, closing in on het She sent them scurryingwith a push.

This work ended with McCauley borne tri-umphantly overhead in their arms, giving the gents an excuse to complain loudly about the trim dancer’s weight. Which was just the segue they needed for their original tune, "Liposuction," sung breathlessly to a toe-tapping square-dance beat, with lyrics such as "guaranteed not to im-pede your need to feed." Here McCauley’s comic gifts were fully unleashed as she was badgered, buffeted and toted about. It was more than just the upswept red hair that brought Lucille Ball to mind.

Da Vinci’s Notebook then held the stage on its own, lampooning ‘N Sync and the Backstreet Boys with their own oozy fill-in-the-blanks love ballad called "Title of the Song," and skewering Disney deification with the velvety-toned gospel "Kingdom in the Sky." ("All God’s children shall be free in / ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ / When we reach that Magic Kingdom in the sky.")

There was more.., but this was a dance concert, after all, so you knew the wild detour had to end eventually. After intermission, the tone became serious as McCauley premiered her "Musica Ricercata," set to the piano composition of the same name by Gyorgy Ligeti. It is a bold effort, accompanied by solemn, minimalist music. Ligeti adds one tone at a time (the score was played by Laurie Bunn, at an onstage grand piano), and McCauley follows suit, adding one dancer at a time until 10 are in motion.