Sonata BYOB

So this will fall under the food portion of this on-again-off-again food and dance blog:

We took my mother out for her birthday last night to Sonata, a BYOB on Liberties Walk. This will be a short review, but I need to say, the food was excellent, reasonably priced for the quality of food. The decor was inviting and cozy, and left the real magical work to be done by the food. With 8 people, the table ordered a good selection of the menu (Pork tenderloin, braised short rib, seared salmon, bacon wrapped chicken, lobster "mac and cheese") and all plates were cleared. Speaking for myself, I started with an excellently delicate scallop crudo, my entre was the butter poached Lobster and cheesy pappardelle (the phrase lobster "mac and cheese" really doesn't do the dish justice) which was delicious, the lobster was cooked perfectly, and there was jsut enough of everything. I wasn't left wanting for sauce, lobster, or pasta. I capped my meal off with the whimsical fried apple pies. 3 mini fried pies with ice cream and caramel sauce were the perfect sweet cap off to a great meal.  I highly recommend Sonata. I look forward to eating more of Chef Mark Tropea's creations in the future.

Boom Bap Tourism

Makoto Hirano's Boom Bap Tourism

In the interest of full disclosure, I consider Makoto Hirano a good friend. That said, Boom Bap Tourism was a little piece of brilliance last night at the Painted Bride. An autobiographical journey of self reflection the carried it's way through with a consistent movement vocabulary, funny stories, artful staging, and a creative musical score. All of these elements combined into a compelling story of the man who Makoto sees himself as today. The use of lights and props was inventive and the music or silence stood guard as beat box, free style rhymes, and spoken word took us through the journey of his life. The duality of characters established at the beginning, framed the piece as a kind of "if I could talk to myself when I was that age, maybe I would have been different" story but without any of the usual regret or self pity that comes along with that type show. Maybe the only slip was in the performance was the full embodiment of young Makoto did not remain fully consistent past the opening sequence; however, his gift for story telling carried the spoken word through regardless.
The movement was inspiring. From fighting, to break dancing, to visions of Gene Kelly the dancing and choreography had a consistent beat and style that was characterized by swiftness of foot. Rarely did the movement feel under developed or over extended. The deftness with which Makoto went between break dancing, to modern, to delightful soft shoe shows a depth of dance talent that was as strong and the rhymes and stories they juxtaposed. The stories and imagery were hilarious (and not that bullshit, "look it's someone I know and their doing something I think is out of character "Philadelphia" funny"), genuinely clever and insightful stories that Makoto executed with charm and wit directly to the audience. I hope to see this show again, and look forward to more work from Makoto as his talent will no doubt continue to be showcased in Philadelphia and beyond.

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Come see the show on Sunday @ Mascher @ 2pm