When veteran circus performer Genie Cartier began training at age 8, an abusive instructor informed her that she didn’t have an “acrobat’s body,” so everything would be harder for her. Fortunately for Fringe audiences, Cartier overcame her curved back and a hundred other hurdles to have a 30-year career in the art of Chinese acrobatics (which is like gymnastics, but with broader bows), culminating in this autobiographical variety show, “The Curve”.
After an adorable musical opening credits sequence, Cartier takes audiences on a four-act journey through her limber life, from initial fears and fractured heels through desperation jobs and the COVID lockdown, until she learns to carve her own path. As a highlight, she shows off her remarkable strength and agility in a dynamic chair-balancing routine, which she developed at age 17 while performing for celebrities with a troupe of fire-spinning Scientologists.
Between skits, there are satirical advertisements for calluses, MFA degrees and physical therapy — as well as passive-aggressive commentary from a sportscasting shark puppet. Cartier is a genuinely charming storyteller, even if she doesn’t make strong distinctions between other characters, and her clown-like dancing is delightful. However, I was left craving even more examples of her acrobatic talents.
Sadly, as Cartier explains in front of projected X-rays of her numerous injuries, she’s had to say goodbye to several of her hard-earned skills, but the new ones she’s mastered — like slo-mo training montages — help make up for it. Cartier conquers her inner and external critics by embracing her evolving body, as this show delves beneath its silly self-deprecating surface to unveil a surprisingly moving meditation on loss and change that should resonate with any aging athlete or artist.
Orlando Fringe Festival: Tickets and times for “The Curve”
Seth Kubersky
Source link
