Thrown Together, Couples Make Romantic Moves

While Howard Stern touts his latest game-show segment in which listeners vie to win dates with porn stars, and Fox TV has strangers marrying each other for looks and big bucks, Highways presented “Love Fest,” two different benefit performances over the weekend. Curated by Dan Froot, Victoria Marks and Conor McTeague, the evenings included the pairing of artists from different disciplines, or “first dates.”

Emceed by actor Paul Zaloom, Saturday’s program saw the inventive Rosanna Gamson/World Wide dance theater company teamed with the lyrically twangy, singer-songwriter Phranc in “1st Date #2: Earnest.” While Phranc crooned of romance, Gamson’s nine men, all in ill-fitting dresses, went through a gamut of whimsical moves--from frugging and yoga postures to hopping to the beat--resembling, at times, a surreal aerobics class.

Eko Supriyanto and Sen Hea Ha performed “Exile,” a work in progress, wherein a couple with powerfully entwined arms and legs deployed a Butoh-like slowness, offering a study in controlled angst.

Movement improviser Simone Forti, slated to work with Luis Alfaro, was put to the test when the latter bowed out. Choosing a random partner from the audience, the nimble, soft-spoken Forti managed to play off her subject with her signature litheness and agility. Also demonstrating fluidity: Robin Prichard in her muscular dance solo, “wishing I were there: a postcard,” set to the music of Satie.

And what is love without a few laughs? The brilliantly madcap performance artist-actor John Fleck poured cocktails, discoursed on chakras, and offered cash to anyone willing to share the stage with him, while a surprise guest, comedian Reno, also took up the spirituality quest with hilarious vengeance.

The ironic, quasi-tuneful duo Guitar Boy (Nancy Agabian and Ann Perich), sang about the Getty Center and the pitfalls of being an artist, while David Gere began the night with “Love Lecture,” his take on the four-letter word that refuses to die.