All of the AboveI hadn’t uttered the words kick/ball/change since grade school jazz dance classes at the community center featuring neon leotards. But Sunday night’s Kick/Ball/Change performance brought it back to my vocabulary.
Going way beyond Sparkle Motion and jazz hands, the drag, dance, performance-art stylings of Untrained, I, All of the Above, KO&Co, Beefcake Burlesque and Cattitude entertained with innovative, humorous and sexy moves that will not soon be forgotten.
Camp is almost always fun, but it is also almost always trite. KBC’s emcee, the unmatchable Noah Mickens, from art and performance groups such as 2Gyrlz and 36 Invisibles, rocked the stage with highly original camp while clothed in a blood red zoot suit. His slicked back hair even matched.
Beefcake brought a myriad of masculinitities to the stage, celebrating the hotness and showmanship that Portland is so known for. Their occasional irreverence, however, was no match for the outright comedy of Catitude, whose curly wigs and enormous yellow cat eyes will haunt my dreams (in a good way) for weeks.
As for All of the Above, I would say they pretty much lived up to their name. However, with plenty of moments of laughter AA mostly served to indulge the audience’s need for style, sass and the successful use of black light to enhance the eye candy. The moves were kickin’.
KO&Co brought a practiced and trained post-modern language to a largely self-taught show. They used these skills in an outlandish and complementary juxtaposition to the troupe with the most performances of the night, Untrained, I. A group that prides itself on performance without traditional schooling, UI brought just the right amount of wit, languid and thoughtful choregraphy, and straight up energy.
It was just about the gayest thing I have ever seen. And that is most definitely a good thing.
