{"id":3496,"date":"2012-06-02T12:45:28","date_gmt":"2012-06-02T19:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=3496"},"modified":"2012-06-05T10:52:45","modified_gmt":"2012-06-05T17:52:45","slug":"uno-fest-review-the-atomic-weight-of-happiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2012\/06\/02\/uno-fest-review-the-atomic-weight-of-happiness\/","title":{"rendered":"UNO Fest review: The Atomic Weight of Happiness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Disclaimer: I\u2019m not a dance guy. I can barely move around my room in the morning without stubbing several toes, and I\u2019m certainly not the right person to be analyzing choreography and fluidity and movement, or whatever words you use to talk about dance. I appreciate the human form and I like to see bodies move, but I have no idea what the hell 99% of it means. But, hey, I like watching So You Think You Can Dance<\/em>, so not all is lost on me.<\/p>\n

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One of the more impressive dance moves in Meagan O'Shea's The Atomic Weight of Happiness (photo provided).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meagan O\u2019Shea\u2019s The Atomic Weight of Happiness<\/em> is rooted in her dance background and the show revolves around several dance sequences that, honestly, went way over my head. Spelling out the alphabet in dance moves to represent each letter probably wouldn\u2019t be lost on a preschooler, but I was experiencing some confusion. O\u2019Shea starts the show even before the requisite UNO intros and sponsorship thank-yous by quietly and intently writing human emotions on a blackboard to stage right. \u201cVulnerable,\u201d \u201cfrustrated,\u201d \u201cexcited,\u201d \u201cbrazen,\u201d and so on. It\u2019s a great hook to get people into the show. O\u2019Shea tells the story of her life through audience participation wherein several audiences members read out her back-story with little flashlights. It\u2019s really quite clever.<\/p>\n

But then the dancing takes over the show and I liked a few of the moves, sure, but it\u2019s like when I look at abstract art and say, \u201cI like that red colour, really nice,\u201d and the person beside me is talking about how the same painting represents the rise of patriarchy in modern society or something: whoosh, right over my head. O\u2019Shea\u2019s a good dancer, tons of personality, looks comfortable on stage, and perhaps some dance enthusiasts in the cozy little Intrepid Theatre Club were thrilled to the gills. But I didn\u2019t get it.<\/p>\n

Oh, and then there\u2019s the bike and the\u2026 laughing. Anyone who\u2019s seen The Atomic Weight of Happiness<\/em> knows what I\u2019m talking about and perhaps just had a little cringe. Or, a big one. The recurring scene is that O\u2019Shea jumps on an exercise bike and starts pedaling like mad, laughing maniacally to create the energy of happiness and thus continue the show. Her laugh is so annoying and seemingly neverending that by the end of the show I just kept bracing myself, hoping she wasn\u2019t going to get back on that fucking bike. I couldn\u2019t control thinking to myself, \u201cIf she gets back on that bike and starts cackling again I am seriously going to lose my shit.\u201d And that\u2019s no way to enjoy a play.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Disclaimer: I\u2019m not a dance guy. I can barely move around my room in the morning without stubbing several toes, and I\u2019m certainly not the right person to be analyzing choreography and fluidity and movement, or whatever words you use to talk about dance. I appreciate the human form and I like to see bodies […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-webexclusive"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t