Review: Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks by Redlands Footlighters

The Redlands Footlighters' production of Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, written by Richard Alfieri and directed by Jeff Richards, runs from February 11-27 and is well-worth seeing.

Though Pamela Lambert (Lily Harrison) and Brady Greer Huffman (Michael Minetti) began their February 12 matinee with voices and expressions slightly too loud for the small crowd in attendance, they adjusted quickly and the theater soon felt like an intimate look into Harrison's St. Petersburg Beach, Florida condo, where the entire play takes place.

Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks covers a range of progessive issues including homophobia, ageism, sexism, abortion, and domestic abuse, both queer and hetero, without feeling didactic. Harrison and Minetti's friendship is believable and touching, and Lambert and Greer Huffman embody the roles beautifully.

Harrison claiming her "fuck me dress" and describing the invisibility of older women would make Barbara Macdonald (author of Look Me in the Eye: Old Women, Aging and Ageism) proud. The celebration of intergenerational, unlikely friendship was especially touching close to Valentine's Day.

The entire crew, from costumes to props to music, made the performance immersive and Redlands Footlighters deserve special kudos for mentioning neither queerness nor abortion in the description on their website.

The theater, located on Barton Road, requires all patrons and staff to wear masks.  Their next production, Sense and Sensibility, will run April 22-May 8. 

For tickets, visit RedlandsFootlighters.org.