Southern Theatre Presents I HATE MYSELF. WILL YOU PLEASE LOVE ME?, 3/4-6

ARENA Dances brings to the stage the world premiere of I hate myself. Will you please love me? This ironically dark comedy and cautionary tale of The Carpenters explores insecurities through the dancers' "sly irreverence combined with mellow grace evocative of their easy listening pop style" (Star Tribune). Beautiful and idiosyncratic, Janczewski's new work has a fresh attention to character and precision and an electrifying range of motion and emotion.
 
"ARENA's six dynamic dancers perform to music by the Carpenters, Fourtet, Babes in Toyland, Bright Eyes and others," says Mathew Janczewski, artistic director and founder of ARENA Dances. "When I was young, I spent hours hiding in the basement, listening to Karen Carpenter and crying. Her music provided a refuge, my 'secret place' to get away."
 
"The piece draws on the lives of singer/drummer Karen Carpenter and her brother, bandleader/arranger Richard, to present an expressionistic look at their relationship and the secrets and conflicting emotions we all experience in our own lives," says Janczewski. "To me, the Carpenters music is all about love and why it is we need another person in our lives. And while so many popular songs are about this very thing, Karen Carpenter's voice speaks directly to my being."
 
Performances: March 4-6, 2011Fri. & Sat. at 8pm
Sun at 7pmTickets: $26,24

Southern Theater box office: 612.340.1725
1420 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN  55454 www.southerntheater.org/2011_03-04_arena_dances.htm

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