Faux-French Fun

If you go see Flying Foot Forum’s French Twist at the Guthrie, expect a cabaret-style evening of fast, percussive footwork, opulently zany sets and costumes, and old-fashioned clowning fun.

“Nothing wrong with a little fun,” says Joe Chvala, founder and artistic director of the rhythmic troupe. This “cabaret based on a faux-French theme” was inspired, Chvala says, by his own love of Paris, the clowning of Jacques Tati and Buster Keaton, and humorous American stereotypes of the French.

If you’ve never seen Flying Foot Forum before, a delirious mix of song, silliness, and sketch comedy is far from the norm. “Nothing is really characteristic of us,” says Chvala. Performances in the Forum’s seventeen-year history have ranged from folksy to apocalyptic to historical, and Chvala is eager to keep expanding the range. “The whole idea of Flying Foot Forum is to take percussive dance and do everything we can with it,” he says.

Percussive dance, for the company, doesn’t just mean contemporary American tap—it includes rhythm tap, Broadway tap, and vaudevillian antics, but also European folkdance, clogging, and even tidbits of other percussive forms, such as flamenco or bharatanatyam. Chvala describes his own training as a “smorgasbord” that naturally led him to a mixed dance form.

Chvala’s percussive, heterogeneous style appeals to a broad range of audiences, and the Guthrie platform should give Flying Foot Forum some much-deserved exposure to a wider audience. “We’re always looking for something new,” says Chvala. He’s hoping the seats will be filled by people who feel the same way. May 9–18. Guthrie Theater, 818 S. 2nd St., Mpls., 612-377-2224