ADF - 2011 American Dance Festival is underway

So, I am going to count this as a mini-road trip! Summer always feels like one to me because I know that every Saturday for weeks we'll be going to Durham. So, last night was the first of the ADF season for us. We saw Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Co. We have seen them many times over the years and they did not disappoint. One thing we noticed this year is that there was no warning of nudity. They have used it in the past, so we weren't too surprised and the N&O reviewer noted it so we were expecting it. But I did hear the woman behind me gasp at first. It was a whole stage of a lot of very naked people! All but one of them did eventually dress. The funniest thing was the guy that originally only donned a ballcap! They kept changing around their clothes as they came and went. Clay was funny when he told me that first he thought they were saving money on their wardrobe budget, but that they wound up having more than enough clothes for everyone. A little surprising that we did not see the choreographer, Bill T. Jones, this year. I think he has come onstage to take a bow at every previous performance we have attended. In any event, we well enjoyed it.

We had dinner for the first time at Rue Cler. We knew about it last year and Clay's sister-in-law, Vivien, had raved about it to us, but somehow we just never made it. This year since Tosca, one of our favorites had closed down, we decided to try Rue Cler. It did not disappoint. We will be back there sometime. We ordered a la carte. Clay had salad and Moules Frites. I had steak frites. Clay had the strawberry sorbet (tasted like orange juice!) which neither of us liked. I had the chocolate terrine and a mocha latte. The chocolate terrine was a gooey slab of chocolaty deliciousness. We couldn't figure out how they could even slice it, it was so sticky! Anyway, I could only eat about half of it, so it helped Clay's weird orangey sorbet go down.

I don't know yet where we will eat next week. But, ADF has 2 companies sharing the stage next week. Evidence and Dayton Contemporary Dance Company. I can't recall Evidence from past seasons, but I always really enjoy DCDC. So, looking forward to that...