A fearful dancer stages an encore

Excerpted from The Inquirer's review published Oct. 15, 2010.

Jen Childs is scared of dance.

But not so scared that she won't admit it in front of an audience, explain her many humiliations in great detail, and perform snippets of ballet, jazz, hip-hop, and many other styles. She does all that in her one-woman show for 1812 Productions, Why I'm Scared of Dance. [The production opened Friday at Act II Playhouse in Ambler.]

The show frames the story of Childs' life through her chorophobia - fear of dancing - and is full of clever lines, most of them delivered spot-on. A funny costume hides ineptness, she says, as she changes outfits repeatedly during the 70-minute piece.

Early on, she bravely sports a gold top, tight gold spandex pants, and visible leotard lines. She dons enormous shorts, red suspenders, and a clown nose for a hilarious dance segment that pays homage to everything from Singin' in the Rain to Madonna to Flashdance. And, yes, the costumes do draw attention away from the details.

If Childs finds dance so excruciating yet professionally unavoidable, one may wonder why she hasn't put more effort into improving it. "I don't really like learning how to do new things," she says. "I like knowing how to do new things."

. . . [I]t's only near the end that universal themes emerge. "The show could just as easily be called Why I'm Scared of Kickball," Childs says. She then notes that her 7-year-old daughter loves ballet and thinks her mother is a good dancer. And in her daughter's eyes, unlike in the dance studio, Childs finally sees, "There are no big mirrors, just small ones."

Through Sunday at Act II Playhouse in Ambler. Tickets: $27-$33. 215-654-0200 or http://act2.org.

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