Secret, February 3, 2013, Callanwolde Fine Arts Center

I had heard of CORE Performance Company back when I lived in Houston, but never caught one of their shows. Then I moved to Atlanta in 2006, and since then had STILL not caught one of their shows. Since they are based in Atlanta and perform in both cities, you'd think...but no. So when I saw that they were performing something on a Sunday afternoon in a venue where it would be reasonable to take my four-year-old daughter with me, I jumped at the chance. Seeing that the work was co-choreographed by Becky Valls of University of Houston, whose work I had seen here and here, made it even more appealing.

This dance was a set piece made specifically for the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, which is housed in a 1920 mansion built by a son of the founder of Coca Cola (so it's "verra nice"). The performance took place throughout the center of the main floor, including the grand stairway. There were musicians in the corners, and the six dancers sometimes used their shoes to define where they were going to be dancing.

I admit that it's been quite a while since I've watched modern dance, and maybe I've lost my taste for it. Or maybe this piece was too disjointed. It was certainly awkward to move around after the dancers and then find out you were sitting where they planned to dance next. There was not much of a narrative to the performance, and the music was no help. The only thing that kept me interested was watching my daughter's response to a dancer being 2 feet away from her. She remained engaged for almost all of the 70-minute performance.