CHILDREN'S DANCE THEATER and PETE SEEGER, Feb. 11, Capitol Theatre.
Apart, they are plenty charming. But when you put the Children's Dance Theatre together with American folk legend Pete Seeger, you begin to enter the realm of irresistible.
Seeger and CDT performed Monday night in the Capitol Theatre as a part of the Cultural Olympiad. Backing up Seeger musically was his grandson, Toa Rodriguez-Seeger's folk group The Mammals, as well as a few local musicians.
In addition to playing a handful of his many hit songs and a variety of other tunes, the 83-year-old Seeger also served as sing-a-long leader, energetically encouraging the crowd to sing out loud to most of the songs, and sometimes prepped them by saying the words before they were sung. He also stepped back at times, letting others take the lead vocals as he spryly accompanied them on the banjo and the guitar.
Seeger also showed off his talent with the wooden flute, playing a soft prelude before breaking into his classic "If I Had a Hammer."
One of the highlights of the evening was "Walking Down Death Row," a song Seeger had written in 1966 to bring attention to two young inmates who many believed were innocent. Seeger and his grandson sang the song as a stark duet, accompanied by only Seeger's guitar, while the students of one of the high school classes performed an emotional dance choreographed by Meghan Cooley, Amy Pinegar and the class.
In another song, Seeger lightheartedly "rapped" his way through the many ways English is a strange language, all the time intoning the refrain "English is Craaaazy." Such lines as, "if a vegetarian eats vegetables, than what does a humanitarian eat?" kept the audience laughing, as kids from the high school class jauntily danced.
The fantastic, eye-catching costumes in each number wonderfully captured the playful spirit of the dancers and the dances. There were bright gingham dresses for "Skip to my Lou," futuristic neon clothes for "Risselty Rosselty" and a rainbow of colors for the finale, where all the students were on stage.
The choreography and dancing for the numbers was equally impressive. The beautiful movements of the Dance Ensemble as Seeger sang "Turn, Turn, Turn" perfectly wrapped their way around the music and lyrics.
As an encore, Seeger, the dancers and the entire audience joined together to sing Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land." Seeger even took time to teach the audience a few verses of his old friend's song that are left out of the songbooks.
E-MAIL: pthunell@desnews.com
