Levin Ballroom was bursting at the seams Thursday night, with people cramming the balcony and more streaming out the back and the sides. Flitting mobile figurines filed out onto the stage in sequence, offering their best dance moves with mixed results. But the audience wasn't expecting Barishnikov. Droves of students dropped the books to see their peers encrusted in rubber-only rubber, nothing else.
The fifth annual production of Liquid Latex hit high marks this year. Sponsored by Student Events and Deviant Latex, this interpretive dance and design show has become a Brandeis staple in only a few short years. And it's certainly the only on-campus show where dancers confidentially strut on stage with no more conventional "clothing" adorning their bodies than skimpy thongs.

Never having been to Liquid Latex before, I only knew that it involved practically naked people, paint, and music. At exactly 8 p.m., the lights dimmed, a voice boomed out warning people to "turn off anything that makes noise," and spectators eagerly and not-so-quietly waited to be wowed. There was no set to speak of, only the stage with a solid black background. But after the first number started, this proved to be enough-the attention was on nothing but the latex-clad models.

Throughout the night, the acts were diverse, colorful and well received, to say the least. The costumes were imaginative, colorful and full of unexpected details, and the routines were consistently entertaining and fresh.

The audience roared in appreciation after every number. One aspect of
the show that was weak, however, was the models' collective dancing, which seemed lackluster in certain places. As a whole, the dance movements could have been sharper and more precise. This was especially apparent in the first number, "Derelicte," choreographed by Shanna Zell '04, in which the models merely, but competently, danced through "Relax" by Keoki, in a routine that included the first of the night's several Michael Jackson dance sequences.

Similar to the first dance, the dancers in a few of the following scenes did not appear to be enthusiastic in their performance, the lack of excitement was apparent in their faces and in their movement. Then again, I have never tried to dance covered in latex paint, so I have no idea how difficult an endeavor this actually is.

After the mediocre first number, audiences were treated to a total change of scenery with an energetic dance featuring music from the movie Chicago, choreographed by Alice Liu. In this number, the models, decked out in 1920s-style latex costumes complete with painted-on beads, lace and fishnets, strutted across the stage in time to the sexy, swinging music, providing a nice contrast to the more modern, abstract opener.

The third number, "Alice in Wonderland," choreographed by Micah Hahn '05 and Mari Levine '06, was a fine example of the final category of dances that evening: a fun tribute to whimsical pop-culture icons. While there wasn't much choreography, the dancers, painted as key characters including Sarah Rollor '06 as Alice, Anna Fridlis'07 as the Cheshire Cat and even the hookah-smoking caterpillar, modeled by Nikki Abrams '07, interacted very well with the crowd. The dancers bounded expressively around the stage, throwing candy and making lots of eye contact.

Another number in which this fun-loving, schlocky attitude was most apparent was "Cheese Party," choreographed by Samantha Laub '06 and Julie Chakrin '06. "Cheese Party" was a very energetic scene that made excellent use of party music and resembled a 5-minute soap opera, with the guests and the hosts, Jessica Dillon '06 and Glenn Landauer '06, switching spouses and inciting cat fights.

The second half of the show opened with "Hey Big Spender," from the musical Sweet Charity, choreographed by Rachel Rausch '05 and Tatiana Ivan '04. The costumes for this number were perhaps the most simplistic of the night, consisting of merely one color on each female dancer with no interesting details, but the choreography was confident and sexy, and the audience was amused as the four female dancers ripped off the conservative clothes of the two male dancers, Corey Clinton '06 and Alex Toplansky '07, to reveal shiny, striped latex boxers underneath.

In general, the second half of the show was even a bit stronger than the first half, as the dancers gathered steam and confidence. The best-performed Michael Jackson sequence of the night was "Scream," choreographed and performed by Sarah Eisenhandler '06, and Liz Steinfield '06, in which the models danced to three songs by Michael and Janet Jackson, and even ended with a homage to Janet's infamous "wardrobe malfunction."

My personal favorite of the night, due to its sheer originality, would have to be the second to last number, "Got Milk?" In this piece, three guys dressed up as various cereal mascots-Seth Woolf '04 as Tony the Tiger, Nathan Speed '04 as the Honey Nut Cheerios bee and Evan Lerner '04 as Pop from Rice Krispies-and danced (or rather, head-bopped) to that early-90s dance classic, La Bouche's "Be My Lover," while competing for a voluptuous milk bottle's attention, modeled by Adena Kemper '06. The whole act was so brilliantly random, and conveyed with such good spirit by the models, that it was impossible to not be amused.

I was thoroughly impressed with the presentation and sheer concept of the show. The collective team of painters, dancers and choreographers more than succeeded and should be commended. The whole night had been like the painted models: slick, snappy and delightful to watch and gone much too soon.