Tessa Waters is back this festival with the new solo show,
Waters is a powerful performer.
We meet Woman; a sexy Latino dancer who wants to teach us how to love life, ourselves, and each other, through the power of dance. In this physical theatre comedy Woman is born, grows, lives and flourishes.
Woman is here with a message; life is too short not to love yourself. Woman celebrates love in all its forms; expressing all of the manifestations of love through the power of dance.
Waters hops from costume to costume as she explores all of the emotions. The show challenges the more conservative among the audience to be comfortable with the body; both Waters’ and their own. Waters has no shame as she struts her stuff in a leotard, celebrating her curves and her womanhood as only a Latino knows how. There’s something of ‘sticking it to the Patriarchy’ in Waters’ performance; on some unconscious and insidious level we know there’s something revolutionary about a woman who is not stick-thin being confident and sexy in a public space. Fighting that horrible social expectation is one of the many great things about this excellent performance.
Woman is not showing off; we are all welcomed into a collective celebration of life; learning to crump and shake our booty together. The show feels like a lovely group hug. Womanz is all about self-love. There’s something of the motivational speaker in Woman; as she urges us to be happy with who we are and to let it all out.
Waters is a powerful performer; able to project her character to the back of the room. It’s hard to describe in words what sets a gifted physical theatre performer apart from others, but you know one when you see one. You can’t help but feel uplifted by Waters’ character, leaving the theatre with a spring in your step and joy in your heart.
A grand, life affirming celebration of the body, the booty, and love. Get along!
