Here in the Pacific Northwest, we’re driving eco-cars, abandoning
plastic bags, and exploring the merits of “fresh, local, and organic.”
And we’re miles ahead of the rest of the country. But in Colombia,
there’s a little town called Gaviotas that’s leaps and bounds ahead of
even Portland’s most eco-minded. Do Jump!’s Entusiasmo! is the
story of that community—told in leaps and bounds.
In 1971, a small group of dedicated citizens founded Gaviotas in
Colombia’s eastern plains—a wind- and rain-ravaged area that was
considered uninhabitable, until innovation, hope, and boundless
enthusiasm came together and allowed Gaviotas to thrive. You might not
have heard of it, but the town still prospers today, a model of
sustainable, peaceful, and thoughtful living.
Do Jump! founder and Artistic Director Robin Lane has created a show
to tell this community’s story, based on Alan Weisman’s book
Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World. In typical Do Jump!
fashion, the story is interspersed with striking visuals, incredible
gymnastic feats, and original music. Unfortunately, even as the players
leap and tumble, Entusiasmo! never really manages to get off the
ground. The show seems to labor under the weight of its own importance,
as Lane repeatedly pounds her audience with a message-hammer, at the
expense of a fluid and entertaining show.
The acrobatic bits are fantastic—there are phenomenal
sequences involving ladders, trapezes, hoops, and hammocks, and the
performers gracefully make all of it look effortless. But between these
sequences, the show lags: Lane spends too much energy telling the story
when her focus should have been on showing it. Scenes and songs
extend longer than necessary, with long sequences that involve little
more than a souped-up slide show. Extensive dialogue is labored and
unnatural, bringing the story to repeated screeching halts instead of
propelling it forward. Do Jump! is at its best when it’s wrapping its
audiences in pure, unadulterated spectacle—by stepping away from
this model in order to “Tell a Story with a Message,” Lane has undercut
her troupe’s storytelling power. What could have been a viscerally
engaging story is instead just somewhat diverting and, even, a little
boring.