From left: Monica Bill Barnes, Ira Glass, Anna Bass. Photo courtesy of David Bazemore
Ira Glass, host of one of the most popular public radio programs This American Life, is used to telling stories over the airwaves each week, but lately, he has been traveling the country to speak to audiences in a different way: through dance.
In Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host, Glass is joined by two contemporary dancers, Monica Bill Barnes and Anna Bass, who use kinesthetic expression to share stories about love, loss and life as performers.
The show will be performed in Columbus on March 11 at 8 p.m. in The Wexner Center for the Arts’ Mershon Auditorium.
First performed at Carnegie Hall in 2013, Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host blends dance pieces, audio clips and narration by Glass into an evening full of eye-popping effects, such as confetti, bubbles and sparklers.
“I think it’s still blowing Ira’s mind to see some of the radio pieces remade this way, with props and costume changes and lighting cues,” Barnes says. “Combining these art forms has led to a show that’s unlike anything I’ve ever choreographed before.”
Glass says working on the show has been a new experience for him, as well, because the collaboration with dancers adds an extra dimension to the types of narratives featured on This American Life.
“What makes it work is a shared sensibility,” Glass says. “As dancers, Monica and Anna are these amazingly relatable and funny storytellers without words.”
Tickets, which are $45 for the general public, $40 for Wexner Center for the Arts members and $10 for students, can be purchased from the Wexner Center.
For more information about Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host, visit the show’s website.
Amanda Etchison is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
