PRESS - Dance Insider Online

08-03-01
Dance Insider Online Magazine
by Maura Nguyen Donohue (Copyright 2001)
"Air Apparent Running Away with the Aerial Dance Festival"

"Luttringhaus's "Alternate Reality," a duet for herself and (Andrea) Lieske, is a highly striking work that perfectly exemplifies aerial modern dance. Luttringhaus (or resident rogue, as I nicknamed her for myself) is a tall, stunning woman with sharp Germanic features, dyed red hair and black boots. She's constructed a darkly comedic work of delightful dance theater that reveals how aerial work can augment an idea without becoming all about the equipment.

The dance is richly layered with intricate craftsmanship. Each dancer is in rope & harness and revealed separately on his or her own wooden block, designed to abstractly evoke a waterfront cliff. Each performs a solo sequence to introduce the alternate spaces. Lieske spends a good part of four minutes upside down and spinning while Luttringhaus unsuccessfully attempts to dive off, only to be thwarted by her own rope. When they each begin to enter the other's realm the dance takes off into thrilling moments of suspension, swing and split second timing.

Luttringhaus and Lieske are synergic partners; their timing, theatricality, execution and risk taking is superb."