Happy as Larry-OFFICIAL Jury Comments

Nyakuch: “I loved it but it was a little bit rude. I like how they move. I also like when they all did back flips. This is the best show I’ve seen so far. I really like the part when the man lost his pants and when this girl was laughing so much. That was funny.”

Angel: “I thought it was rude because the man’s pants fell down. When they danced all together I liked it, and I liked when the girl laughed without opening her mouth.”

Mia Star: “Happy as Larry was very good because I liked the dancing that they did. At the end we were clapping for a very long time. In the middle of the show the man’s pants fell down and we could see his bum.”

Jordan: “Awesome music, funny dancing, the best seats! The Best day of my life. Funniest dance moves ever. The boy’s pants fell down and we saw his doodle and bum. Wickedest day ever.”

Dylan: “I liked the first bit when the man’s pants fell down.”

Amber: “I liked when the man dropped his pants and we saw his rude part, and at the start when the girl was lauging.”

James: “On Saturday the 13th Group A went to a show called Happy as Larry. I loved the show because I liked it when the basketball girl was dribbling. There was an adult called Larry who was drawing cool pictures. My second favourite part was when Larry was dancing with the girl and drawing. I enjoyed the show.”

Annalise: “Very beautiful. Lots of chalk. I really liked the setting of the dance routines and I wanted to see the choreographer. I hope we see something else like it, but not the pants falling down.”

Happy as Larry

Happy as Larry

Happy as Larry

Shaun Parker & Company (Australia)

Saturday 13 February 2010

Dance in Australia never ceases to amaze me; I wish more of it would tour to Canada and show us what dance should and can be.

Combining dance, ballet, break-dancing, movement, and roller-skates, this high-octane performance unwaveringly captures our pursuit of happiness and the pain, failure, misery, absurdity, self-loathing, determination, love and humour we encounter on the way.

A simple stage set-up, a backdrop was created using a series of flats attached back to back, which the performers moved in and out of, rotated around the stage, and which provided a platform to demonstrate their physical abilities, acted as a scene changer and a blackboard. Crayola should sponsor this show; chalk has never been used more effectively.

Highlights included the opening scene with a single performer staring defiant and deadpan out into the audience. Quiet slow laughter became increasingly more frantic, uncontrollable, exuberant. It took us (myself and the Jury, and I’m pretty confident I could speak on behalf of the audience) more time than I’d like to admit to realize the laughter was coming from the same person. All the while deadpan, unmoving. Jury Members=amazed.

Another highlight was a dancer jumping manically, feverishly up and down against a large bright yellow chalk sun, absorbing its rays. I have never seen dance so vividly convey unbridled emotion. She was bursting with joy.

The showstopper for the Jury was the ‘wardrobe malfunction’. In the midst of great physical feats of awe-inspiring roller-skating, spinning, flipping, and a final handstand, shorts somehow ended up around ankles. A new term for me, his “rude bits” were exposed according to the Jury, amid gasps, outcries, laughter and unstoppable giggles. (To anyone concerned with the inappropriateness of youngsters seeing “rude bits,” I offer you this: first, they’ve already seen worse on TV; and second, we were in the balcony.) None-the-less, expect a new award for this one....

All in all, I think we left happier than Larry. I for one turned into a sunbeam.