Dance might be a rarity at the Bowery Poetry Club—just look at the floor!—but Nina Wise (January) didn't care. This powerhouse improviser from Marin County ripped into the space as if she, not Bob Holman, owned it. I wasn't sure I'd make it through an evening with this groaning, straining, retching creature in leather slacks, but miracles emerged from coarse beginnings. No mere talking head, Wise possesses a supple physique, prodigious energy, and nerve with which to render the shapes and souls of things. Her city host, a hospice nurse, was captured in two unforgettable details—merrily cuddling up to patients and highlighting the awesome in the ordinary by merely saying, "Look!" Lovingkindness abounds in her work—as in her hilarious, illuminating visit to the 10th Street Baths. She makes art as fresh as the day's headlines.

—Eva Yaa Asantewaa

nina@ninawise.com

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