Keila Cordova's "Janet 2.0' at Fringe Festival

The Live Arts Festival/Philly Fringe is often surprisingly lacking in performance with a political edge, although we live in the most political of times. The commissioned 2008 Live Arts performances never filled this void, and one had to search hard within the offerings of the more diverse Philly Fringe for this work.

Keila Cordova, director and choreographer, with a talented group of young dancers, stepped in with Janet 2.0, a political and pop culture send-up that was smart, amusing, and presented just as that game-hunting-from-a-helicopter hockey mom from Alaska was ascending to become a vice-presidential candidate.

Cordova, who gained a singular presence in Headlong Dance Theater's Cell in 2006, posits a time when the Hollywoodian party dominates America and only pop culture celebrities get elected, with help from embedded chips that render them youthfully immortal. When Janet Jackson can't make her inauguration as president, a Janet clone ("2.0") prepares to step in. Mixing original songs, dance and spoken word, the send-up delighted, especially when I conjured up Sarah Palin, whom we just might rename Sarah 2.0.