KAREN GOODMAN
Many performers are downright unnerved
if they can actually see their audience.
Not Karen Goodman. In her one-woman
dance/theater work Close Dancing,
she literally surrounds herself
with the audience along three sides of the
expansive stage. Such proximity is a
setting in which Goodman thrives. An
elegant dancer and intelligent choreographer,
Goodman is a veteran on the post-modern
dance scene, having worked with a range
of local choreographers, especially the
venerable Rudy Perez. As a choreographer,
Goodman has contributed a string of thoughtful,
compelling and wryly humorous danceworks.
As a performer, she exudes a warm, almost
reassuring aura, a centered sense of
knowing exactly where she is, even -
maybe especially - when she is
exploring new territory. These qualities
help explain her many awards, including
an NEA Fellowship and last year's
Horton Award for Outstanding Solo
Achievement. In Close Dancing,
Goodman ponders the absence of dance as an
integral part of American culture,
particularly compared to the way older
cultures integrate dance into religious and
community rituals. This event marks
the debut of "Intimate Encounters", a
new series at the Luckman Theater...
Ann Haskins - LA Weekly October 13-19, 2000