Cinderbox 18 sparks a bright flame

I attended the Saturday 17 performance of Lucky Plush's Cinderbox 18 with high hopes: After all, this was the first time that the MCA Performance series was presenting a homegrown dance company in its own full-evening piece.

The performance surpassed all my expectations: Cinderbox is a rich, focused, deeply-considered and substantial work that could easily tour to major venues around the world. Yay for Lucky Plush! Yay for Julia Rhoads! Yay for the charming, highly individual and wonderful-to-watch dancers! Yay for Chicago contemporary dance! Yay for Peter Taub's curatorial savvy at the MCA!

In various scenes, some chock full of inventive dancing, others highlighted by clever, irreverant use of talking, the performers guided us through a world of thought and imagination, clearly affected by video and television. The comment on technology and media was far from heavy-handed, however. In subtle but direct ways, Rhoads's inventions, created in collaboration with the dancers, showed what it's like to live in a world where so much of what we do can be recorded, watched, replayed, edited and commented on.

Let's hope this creation grows wings and does some flying.