Loose Leaf Notes

 ~The following first appeared in The Floyd Press newspaper on May 2, 2013.

It was dinner theater with a flair, with a pirouette and a spin, with veils, feathered boas and a petticoat at the second annual One Stoplight Variety Show, held at Oddfella’s Cantina on April 25th.  

The dramatically staged Variety Show entertainment focused on dance and included a mix of modern, belly-dance and improv.  There were also performances of original poetry, original songs and a puppet routine that involved a flamingo, a penguin and a peacock. 

A trio of belly-dancers – Emily Williamson, Barb Gillespie and Julie Arlington – danced to a recording of O Death after making an entrance in black veils and smoke from burning incense. 

Another dancer, Leia Jones, mixed modern and ballet movements with a touch of barefoot flat footing, as she danced in a simple petticoat dress to an Appalachian ballad played by fiddler Mike Mitchell.  

Although it wasn’t directly stated, there was an underlying theme to the show, said dancer and primary organizer Emily Williamson, “Rising from the darkness.”   Williamson explained how she put the show together with her fellow Gryroscopic dance troupe members, Grateful Bread’s Gillespie and Oddfella’s co-owner Arlington.  All three women were closely connected to Tom Ryan, the Republic of Floyd Emporium owner who passed away last winter.

“We were thinking of Tom, and of course I was thinking of my father,” said Williamson, daughter of the late WVTF radio personality Seth Williamson.  Other loved members of the community passed a way more recently and were also remembered, Williamson noted.

Dancer Katie Wells also performed to Mitchell’s fiddle.  Williamson explained how Wells, who performed a dynamic improvisational dance in gold body paint, described to Mitchell beforehand the feelings she wanted to convey in her dance. 

Referring to Mitchell as “a class act,” Williamson explained how she and Mitchell and guitarist John Wilson played together at Ryan’s memorial service.  They collaborated with such ease and hoped to work together again. The Variety Show provided a perfect opportunity, Williamson said. 

Emcee Shamama (Siobhan Lowe) provided a burlesque flavor to the show in a lavender tutu and pink fishnet stockings.  At one point she dropped her stage persona and spoke about the strength of the community coming together in good and hard times.     

Although the underlying theme of the show was dealing with death, the atmosphere was not grievous, but joyous. The full-house audience clapped, hooted and whistled their approval throughout the evening, and especially at the finale where all the performers gathered on stage and then filed out in celebratory procession, one by one.

Williamson, whose art is currently on display at the restaurant, said she appreciates the One Stoplight Variety Show’s creative forum and the challenge it provides for performing artists.  She would like to continue to do an annual or biannual show.

~ Watch a video of the finale HERE . Megan Ihlefeldances to the original song performed by her late husband John 2 Ponies HERE. Other video clip links are embedded in the text above or can be seen by searching “one stoplight variety show” on youtube.com.