If you are reading this, STOP, go see PAINT CHIPS! I wish I had seen this earlier in the week, it was wonderful!

Show: Paint Chips
Venue: Yellow Venue (Goldman Theatre at Orlando Shakespeare Festival)
Times: 5-19 @ 6:15pm, 5-21 @ 6:55pm, 5-22 @ 9:50pm, 5-24 @ 7:40pm, 5-26 @ 6:00pm, 5-27 @ 8:00pm and 5-28 @ 12:15pm
Tickets: $10

OK, now that I have a minute to breathe, I can say something about this wonderful show. Organised into solos and ensemble pieces presented separately, here is how I saw it:

"Contact Improvisation" was an overture, but instead of making every musical statement, it covered most of the "paint chips" we would be seeing later on. While the name of the piece implies that there was no set choreography, each dancer certainly had a character and a personality in mind. We see Olive, playful, new and fun; Rose, happy, polite and reserved; Crimson, who generally struts straight across stage without being stopped; Amber, Black and Mud are there as well, all previewing their eventual romp on stage. Music provided by Mark DeMalo and Joe Meadows on a hand drum and trumpet also seemed improvised, adding to the random nature of the opening.

The namesake of Paint Chips comes from Ken Nordine's "Colors", a spoken word album from 1966 giving more than 30 colors a life and a personality. Throughout the show, we are treated to solos by Olive, Rosy, Blue, Amber, Burgundy and Chartreuse – some pieces, like Crimson, Black, Muddy and Flesh are ensembles.

The short color pieces are also broken up by longer ensembles, the first of which, "Behind Raggedy Ann's Smile", shows some rag dolls having fun dancing in circles, swapping articles of clothing with each other, and eventually fighting to get their own dresses and shirts back. This piece was much more playful and straightforward than the other two longer compositions we would later see.

The "Crimson" piece is to be noted, with three girls pulsating across the stage toward you in unison is just intimidating. Crimson is bad, and should be stopped; it acts without remorse, in a very James Bond femme fatale sort of way. It may seem like I am drawing attention to this color, but each of them stands on its own, and it would be hard to pick a favorite.

The next composition involved the full company led by Mila Makarova, titled "A Cool Wind Is Blowing". A serious piece after so many fun dances, they eased into the theme silently at first, following up with music and always growing in tension and emotion. Re-used statements of movement replayed by different performers reminded me of a symphony or a canon. The theme seemed to center around a struggle, and pain associated with being a woman, perhaps a miscarriage. Other parts seemed to suggest something that one should avoid, but could not stay away from, being pulled in two directions by your emotions and your conscience. One of the audience members said she was on the verge of tears during this piece, though she couldn't tell us why.

More color pieces followed, along with a pieced called "Shattered" set to a string quartet arrangement of a song by a hard-rock band (namely Tool). 5 of the 6 dancers gave us an interpretation of the themes presented by the original song, or so I was led to believe by a Tool fan in the audience. It seemed to me that the piece dealt with issues of trust and betrayal, the building up of a wall made of something flimsy and coarse, like sand. Much faster and more intense than most of the other pieces, this was the Generation X portion of the show to be certain.

Nordine's "Colors" provided such a magnificent backdrop to this enjoyable work by Voci Dance. I was worried that interpretive dance would be so mentally taxing (from all the interpretation) that I would not be able to enjoy the show: not true. The spoken words giving us narration of to the dancer's statement was very welcome, and not at all hand-holding like it may sound. I have to say I am very glad Voci Dance participated in the Fringe Coupon Books this year: now I have a buy-one-get-one-free excuse to go check out this Orlando treasure.