Thursday, January 6, 2011

Mary Oslund and 'Childhood Star': Take one

By Barry Johnson

In November, deadlines being what what they are, I wrote a short story for Portland Monthly's January issue on choreographer Mary Oslund. You could rush right out and buy the magazine and/or you can link to it here!

I'm looking forward to Oslund's show, which runs January 20-22 in Lincoln Hall, with a duet by Keely McIntyre, Drift, danced by McIntyre and Noel Plemmons, as an opener. I saw a very early incarnation of Oslund's Childhood Star for that story, mostly the barebones and the choreographer fussing over them, as the dancers found their way into the dance. Oslund had been struggling with health issues and was more worried than usual about how things would turn out. What I saw, though, had great possibilities.

With any luck, I'll get back to Childhood Star and Oslund, whose work I've followed since, oh, 1985 or so, before opening night. Here's a snippet from Oslund's Bete Perdue (2008), and here's what I wrote about it at the time.

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