Louisa May Alcott's beloved 19th Century novel
Little Women has been adapted countless times on stage and screen. There are TV miniseries, multiple movies, and several stage adaptations (including by two of America's most produced playwrights,
Kate Hamill, commissioned by Jungle Theater, and
Lauren Gunderson, coming to the Guthrie this spring). There's even
a (not very successful) musical! It seems we just can't get enough of this story of four very different but ultimately loving sisters as they forge their own paths in life. And now we have a new adaptation to add to the list - Collide Theatrical Dance Company's dance piece. Collide has been creating original dance musicals for 13 years, sometimes adaptations, sometimes original stories, always gorgeously choreographed and performed, telling a story theatrically with few words. For their
Little Women adaptation, director/ creator/ choreographer Regina Peluso has chosen to give Jo all of the narration and dialogue duties, with the bulk of the story told through dance, which works remarkably well since Jo is the writer telling her family's story. This
Little Women is beautiful storytelling that conveys all of the emotions of Alcott's novel. And as it turns out, even (or maybe especially) when this story is told primarily through movement and dance, it still makes me cry.
Only six performances remain through this Sunday, so head to Luminary Arts Center in Minneapolis' North Loop neighborhood to spend a little time with the March sisters in a whole new way.
