“Ms. Barnes and her stage partner, Anna Bass, have been collaborating for years and clearly share a near-telepathic bond. Then there is the rapport they establish with the audience — sometimes friendly and sometimes less so…Over the course of an hour, the two dancers, in black tailored pants and white tank tops, go through vignettes of aerobic intensity — leaps, extensions, spins, jogs — often flecked with flashes of mischievous humor.”
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“For the most part, the show operates by rules it establishes early: Songs with lyrics about hanging on or moving forward play while Bass and Barnes do athletically inspired choreography; De Viteri keeps up a stream of absurd commentary; the dancers, their faces clown-serious, try to get us to cheer for ridiculous goals...It can be keenly pleasurable, but it’s often repetitive. Although it’s great to see this team back on the field, their game moves slightly into overtime.”
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"Effort is the main event at 'One Night Only'—an element typically hidden in the world of art and yet glorified in the world of sports...In terms of content, there's not much beyond coordinated jogging, shadow boxing, and spinning. And yet, once all the strangely entertaining nonsense percolates, you're left with a stack of thought-provoking nuggets. After all, as Barnes and Bass blend theater into sport, sport in the traditional sense begins to look a lot like theater."
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"Brilliant, exasperating and good-natured...Barnes’ choreography is a delightful blend of ballet, modern dance and stylized movement. She and Bass are highly skilled and have a great chemistry together that recalls that of an accomplished comedy team with flashes of dramatic depth...Drawn-out performance art tangents lamentably distract from the entertaining musical numbers...Fitfully engaging, 'One Night Only (running as long as we can)' would benefit from more dance and less shtick."
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"A meditation on winning, sports, performance, aging, accomplishment and the exhilaration therein...There’s much to like about this piece...What can top record-breaking spinning and excessive snapping? Sporting events have an illogic to their logic–as does this piece...The dancers are a joy to behold–expressive with big and little movements. There’s a lot to think about in this rumination on accomplishment and mortality."
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"Monica Bill Barnes and Anna Bass are the most fun choreographers ever...They are a profoundly conceptual, endlessly sensitive, and frighteningly interesting company as well...They’re not only dance athletes but dance geniuses...These are sophisticated contemporary dance ideas, and Barnes and Bass share them in the most fun, engaging, silly way. What an accomplishment!"
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"The dancing itself is for the most part simple...but the intimacy of the McGinn-Cazale Theater and the emotional and physical precision that Barnes and Bass bring to their work make every little detail and movement count...It’s a little bit of a one-trick pony...Still, while it’s not a show with a lot of breadth, it has a surprising emotional impact; it’s rare to see a piece that conveys so much feeling with so few words."
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"I found it forced and flat. The choreography, partly built around the hype of a boxing match, was repetitive and the humor on the level of a freshman high-school talent show...The performance didn’t get more entertaining and throughout both women seemed to be trying too hard...Both Barnes and Bass are fine dancers, lithe and energetic with excellent control, but watching them spin one hundred times—not once but twice– is twice too many times for me."
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