Pine Nut WTTW
Chicago Dance Crash’s “Lil Pine Nut: The Learning Curve of Pinocchio” – a full evening work that puts a wonderfully fresh and ingenious contemporary spin on the classic 1883 Italian children’s novel by Carlo Collodi – ended its brief run at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts this past weekend. But this 90-minute dance-theater piece is so clever and beguiling, and such a savvy mix of thoughtful storytelling and hip-hop and contemporary dance moves, that it deserves to be remounted, and not only for the adult audiences it has already attracted. It also would make an ideal touring show that could easily win over the middle school and high school crowd, and inspire discussions about everything from father and son relationships, to peer pressure, self-defeating risk-taking and the art of forgiveness.