Beyond Impersonations: Paul Matteson and Friends, Green Street Studios, Cambridge, MA, on Oct 25th and 26th at 8 p.m.

By Debra Cash

Paul Matteson and Raja Feather Kelly. Photo: Arthur Fink.

You may have seen Paul Matteson’s heartbreaking performances as the avatar of Abraham Lincoln in Bill T. Jones’ Fondly Do We Hope … Fervently Do We Pray. Perhaps you caught Raja Feather Kelly as Sly Stone in David Dorfman’s Prophets of Funk or covered in gold leaf in zoe/juniper’s mythic A Crack in Everything. Or, excited and pleased, you may says “wow, I haven’t seen Peter Schmitz‘ dancing since he decided to focus on acting in the western part of the state.”

These fine professional performers (Matteson and Kelly are my friendly colleagues), along with Jennifer Polins and James Morrow collaborate on works that explores the edges of physical and emotional risk in dances scored to everything from Kurt Weill to a kitchen table conversation by three generations of the same family. Having the Five Colleges dance program an easy drive away means that this project can transfer to the intimate space of Green Street nicely: I’m looking forward to the renewal of ongoing exchanges.

Debra Cash has reported, taught and lectured on dance, performing arts, design and cultural policy for print, broadcast and internet media. She regularly presents pre-concert talks, writes program notes and moderates panels and events sponsored by World Music/CRASHarts, Wesleyan Center for the Arts and venues throughout New England. A former Boston Globe and WBUR dance critic, she received a 2012 Creative Arts Award from the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute for a new poetry project.

c 2013 Debra Cash