SELF presented by ARTiko Espacio Creativo was performed in the black box theater at the Orlando Family Stage, 1001 E Princeton St, Orlando, FL. Actor, producer, Stephen Lewis told me about the amazing work this dance company is doing. He put me in touch with producer Alexander Rivero and we arranged for me to get in and do a sketch.

I arrived a touch early and a line had already formed to get into the lobby of the theater. I remained unmasked but kept 22 feet of distance from the crush of the crowd. It was heart warming to watch hugs as friends and family met.

Since I was keeping a distance, I was the last to enter the lobby. My mask went on just before entering.  when the doors opened. The crowd completely filled the lobby. I was luck because a portable air conditioner had been set up to try and cool the air. It blew right on my at 62 degrees. The doors behind me opened several times as late comers pressed in. Finally a woman with huge sun glasses in a white dress and clear raincoat slapped her hands against the glass entry door. This was dancer Scarlet Sans. People turned to look and hushed one another. On man in the crowd worked his way to the door to open it for her. This was unrehearsed since the stage hand next to me started to laugh. He was just being a gentleman. I suspect she would have spent much more time struggling to get in if it weren’t for him. Ah, the joy of live theater.

Raincoat woman entered and started exploring the floor with her umbrella. She now had everyone attention. She then pushed through the crowd which parted to make way for her. I lost sight of her from that moment on. There was a large monitor in the back of the lobby and an opportunity was lost by not projecting her performance in the monitor. I tried to see what she was doing by looking at iPhones which were raised high above peoples heads to take video. I couldn’t see much on the postage stamp sized screens but she was at a canvas. The entrance to the theater was covered with thin clear plastic and I started to fear that the whole show might happen in this tight confined lobby. The CO2 levels had to be skyrocketing.

Eventually the plastic was ripped away from the entrance to the theater and people started pressing forward. Since I was press, I was told to stand behind the bleachers. I was considering the sketch opportunities of sketching the show at butt level through a gap between two people when the director Carlos Dimas found me and ushered me to a much better view on the side lines of the theater.

The show was in Spanish. I picked up just a few phrases from my study on Duolingo. So rather than trying to understand the show through words, I had to trust the movement and raw emotions expressed to flavor the lines I put on the screen.  There was much angst with dancers curled up as in pain or huddled together as if comforting each other. Mauricio Vega opened the show lying on top of a box and then rolling onto the floor and coming to life. Dancer Katherine Dalis had a long moment where she stood motionless with the tassels hanging from her costume waving is the breeze.   Alexia Palacios caught my eye because she resembled Pocahontas and moved with the same stealth pride. There was an unbridled sensuality about the show with an underlying dark foreboding tone.

In the final scene the dancers knelled before water bowls and splashed water on their faces. I took this to mean they were washing away some of the angst and looking toward the future with hope.