Unison Fetish aka Interpretive Cupcake Dancing

Picture it – Bleeker St., New York, September 26, 2010, you’re sitting in a park. It’s gray and rainy. There are people playing chess and kids at the playground. Then you hear it. It starts out faintly; you can’t make out the actual words but you can tell people are singing. You turn in the direction of the sounds and find yourself staring at Magnolia Bakery, when they appear. Seven people dressed in bright magenta dresses, doing a bridal march down the street, cupcakes instead of bouquets in their hands, singing “God Bless Magnolia.” Who are they? They are the Cupcake Cadet Corps of Unison Fetish and they are about to perform ritual dances of cupcake lust and desire for you.

Once the Corps marched to the park, not only did they sing "God Bless Magnolia" but also "God Bless New Bleeker St." and "God Bless the Tourists." Then the real dancing began. To be honest, I don’t know how to describe this to you.  The music started out with an electronic/new agey vibe and the dances had bits of ballet, modern and my particular favorite – Sumo (you heard me). I wasn’t a hundred percent sure what vibe they were trying for, campy or serious, in their expression of lust for the cupcakes but I’m leaning more towards campy. Watching the Corps yearn for their cupcakes, lovingly lick them or just giving in and devouring them, would make anyone want one too and the line at Magnolia did grow shortly after the performance.

It was wonderful, confusing, and fun, but for me, some of the best moments were watching the spectators’ reactions. When we got to the park, there were not a lot of people there but as the Corps marched down the street, more and more people followed until there was a sizable crowd in the park. Little kids couldn’t help but stare and you knew they begged for cupcakes afterwards. Even though the weather was not the greatest, it was an enjoyable performance and I look forward to next year’s performance.

Unison Fetish was conceived and choreographed by Sue Hogan with costumes by Liz Prince. The Cupcake Cadet Corps featured Christina Amendolia, Heather Kemp, Anne Lentz, Sheiline McGraw, Becka Vargus, Emily Wassyng, and Matthew Westerby (yes, he wore a dress too).

                  Pictures taken by our resident web slave, @Getsuyobi