ADF Week 2

Here we are again, week 2. It's really summer. It's been hotter than blazes here this week. Awful humidity and no breeze. You could smell the wood fire from the coastal Croatan Forest burning. That is some stale air! In good news, gas prices are really dropping.

Clay studied menus all week and found himself overwhelmed and by Friday he had still not chosen a restaurant for Saturday night. I told him to just make a reservation at Rue Cler and it was decided. They changed their online menu literally hours before we arrived. He was still moaning about what he would eat at 4pm. At 5:35pm, sitting in the restaurant, he had to go online again with his phone to show me that they had changed the menu. It really doesn't matter, because the menu they hand us in the restaurant at the moment is the one we have to work with! As it happened (and was still not online!) we ordered the same meal we ordered last summer. Steak frites for me (the price went up by $7 both online and in reality after 4pm yesterday!) and for Clay a green salad and moules frites. We shared a half dozen small beignets for dessert. I think we both enjoyed it, but it may be our only trip this season, with the enormous markup on the steak in a day, much less in a year.

This week at ADF was Scottish Dance Theatre. It was OK. It was long. A 20+ minute intermission after an overly long 40 minute opening piece that was the weakest offering, followed by 2 much better and much shorter pieces separated by a pause. The first piece was "Lay Me Down Safe". It may have been ironically titled. I'm not sure. I hope! It began with the song " Too Drunk to F**k" (I am quoting from the program.) and really where can you go from there. It began with a stage of men in dresses. Given it is a Scottish company, I didn't let that really say much. But, the piece was, well, too young. I thought it was because I am too old. But I overheard the couple behind me discussing it afterward and they were with me that it was trying too hard and failing to communicate something, something we didn't get. I stood and stretched to see them at intermission and they were young men in their early 20's perhaps. So, it wasn't me. The piece ended with gunfire and all the dancers dropping to the stage except one startled one. That was just about too literal. It was almost wish fulfillment. I know I wasn't the only one thinking, what will it take to end this dance? Geez! I almost laughed out loud. I am fairly sure the choreographer did not mean it to be humorous though. Maybe. See?

The other 2 pieces were quite good and enjoyable and showed off the dancers' skill. I left happy and satisfied. They had a post performance discussion again. We skipped it again. We got home around 11pm. So, a late night for us. The real good news of the night according to Clay was that he had woken up before the gunfire! Right, there is a measure of success for you.

Next week is Hubbard Street Dance Company of Chicago.