LA Dance Chronicle Review: Freaks With Lines at ARC Pasadena

Freaks With Lines was founded by Artistic Director, Executive Producer and Choreographer Susan Vishmid in 2017 along with her dancing partner Adam Bloodgood. On Saturday, October 1, 2022, the company presented its Fall Gala Event and fundraiser at A Room To Create (ARC) in Pasadena, featuring primarily excerpts from works by Vishmid and Sadie Black, who also performed in the concert. While the dancers are highly skilled, I left truly confused why the company is called Freaks With Lines. It was only the last piece on the program, an excerpt from an award winning dance film Nilus Cogus, that remotely appeared to stretch the boundaries of ballet. The person who was most entertaining and hinted at being freakish, was the beautiful and extremely humorous Emcee Ariana Lallone. Lallone retired from Pacific Northwest Ballet in June 2011, following a long, successful career mostly as a principal dancer and took on a second career with San Francisco’s Teatro ZinZanni.

Vishmid, who began training at the Westside School of Ballet has danced with the Pennsylvania Ballet, Santa Fe Opera, San Diego Opera, Chicago Festival Ballet, Napoles Ballet Theater, California Contemporary Ballet, City of Angels Ballet and others. The choreographers that Vishmid has worked with include Kenneth von Heidecke, Nicola Bowie, Jodi Melnick and Kitty McNamee in Samson & Delilah, Aida, A Masked Ball, Romeo & Juliette, Capriccio and La Traviata respectively.

I hesitate to review excerpts of works especially when they are shown at a gala event, but in an effort to be supportive of this company and the dance community in general, I will proceed.

Vishmid opened the program with the World Premiere of her work titled Red Room followed by Night & Day created by Sadie Black. After a 20 minute intermission where the audience was encouraged by Lallone to have some wine and to spend money, the program continued with Vishmid’s Puzzling Affection, the 1st movement of Together Unseen, and closing with an excerpt from Nilus Cogus choreographed by both Vishmid and Black.

Vishmid’s choreography lent itself to traditional ballet movement while she occasionally ventured off into less common modern interpretations of ballet. Minimal costumes featured the five “Jewel” dancers in basic ballet tights and skirts. Their sequin-covered headpieces in different “Jewel” colors, emphasized the idea of a Jeweler struggling with his gemstones. Classical music by Verdi, Gounod and Shostakovich helped inspire the choreographer, dually preserving classical dance and subverting traditional ballet norms. 

HeGEMony premiered as part of the Sunflower Project - New Choreographers Showcase by Brockus Project Dance in Downtown Los Angeles July 29th and 30th 2023. 

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