Published on: Wednesday, March 10, 2010

By Michelle J. Nealy

Prince George's County residents witnessed something magical when dancers dressed as Ole King Cole, Jack and Jill, and other nursery rhyme favorites dazzled audiences during a performance of "Not Your Mother's Goose" on Saturday at Bowie State University.

The 45-minute dance performance held in the Samuel L. Myers Auditorium brought several classic Mother Goose nursery rhymes to life through modern dance, including "Mary Mary Quite Contrary" and "Jack Be Nimble."

Members of the Kinetics Dance Theatre, an Ellicott City-based organization designed to educate students of all ages through dance, captured the imaginations of children and adults with outrageous costumes and well choreographed dance moves.

Phoenix Highsmith, one of the youngest audience members, [no age] sat in the theater watching intently, fingers crossed, eyes forward. Like the other children, Highsmith smiled and cheered when the Mary and another dancer dressed as a lamb pirouetted the stage in the “Baa Baa Black Sheep” vignette.

A rock 'n' roll styled-Georgie Porgie got the audience dancing in their seats as he grooved to "That's What I Like About You," by the Romantics. Highsmith said she was especially tickled by Georgie Porgie's blond mohawk.

A clumsy Humpty Dumpty, dressed in a tie and top hat, danced to "I Feel Good," by James Brown before he fell off the wall— a crowd favorite.

Priscilla Kaufhold, director of Kinetics Dance Theatre and the event's choreographer, said her inspiration for the production came from everyday life. A song on the radio could evolve into an idea for a later performance, she said.

"So how did Humpty Dumpty fall off the wall?" Kaufhold asked. "We were thinking that if he was really cocky and not paying attention while on this little wall, then he might fall."

The goal of our performances is to keep children and adults engaged, Kaufhold said. At the end of the performance, children were invited to the stage to dance with the performers.

"I think that bringing in music that the children like is key. We're also bringing in music from the '60s or '70s to keep the parents entertained. We try to make things light and funny," Kaufhold said.

"The Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe" vignette featured dancers wearing different types of shoes. The shoes shimmied up, down and around the stage. The type of shoe worn by the dancer dictated the type of dance.

"The dancer wearing sneakers is doing hip-hop and the ballerina dancer is wearing toe shoes and the cowboy boots are doing country and western. We want to expose kids to different types of dance styles," Kaufhold said.

The event was hosted by the Bowie State University Theatre department. In addition to the Kinetics troupe, Bowie State University dancers performed a six-minute piece titled “A Unity of Dreams,” inspired by the poem, “My Dream,” by Todd-Michael St. Pierre.

Kinetics also featured "Anasi the Spider is Lost" during the event.

"Anansi is about sharing," said Jennifer Dorsey, assistant professor of dance and theatre at Bowie and a member of Kinetics Dance Theatre. "All the spider brothers come together to help their dad who gets into some trouble."