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"Deft Physical Comedy"
"The setting was a little restaurant. A wistful blank faced waiter, played by Ms. Porter prepares the table then leaves, to be followed onstage by Ms. Porter as the diner. She looks at first like a beautiful, solitary young woman Jacques Tati might spot across the room in a seaside cafe. Her diner is pure Beatrice Lillie by the end, tipsy on pink wine but still tilting at the world. It is deft physical comedy of a high order, as poignant as it is funny." Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times |
"Brilliant Timing"
"Clearly the Ruth Draper of dance ... not only a marvel of construction but also hilarious...
Through brilliant timing, facial expression and arms and hands that seemed to lead a life of their own.
Porter produced a continuum of uproarious banalities that had the audience in stitches."
John Gruen, Dance Magazine
"Enchanting ... Chaplinesque ... Magical"
"Porter's silent piece in which
she gets drunk at a restaurant is enchanting. You have time to study
her expressive face, the wide mouth, the bright wary eyes. She's Chaplinesque in this bit, both sad and
rude, and improbably graceful. 'Her loneliness is clear in the way she adjusts the napkin on her lap, her
dreams evident in the romantic loopiness with which she gets drunker and drunker. She's rather magical here,
in a way mimes, with their preciousness, never are."
Lloyd Rose, The Washington Post
"Timing Is Flawless"
"The program concludes with
Dining Out, Porter's hilarious signature piece. Appearing first as
a waiter who fastidiously sets an elegant table for one, Porter later emerges as a proper gentlewomen who loses
her gentility as she finishes off a full bottle of sparkling rose. Restrained at first, her movements develop
into an uninhibited splashing of wine, flailing of arms and flopping of torso on tabletop. In this piece,
as in the entire program, Porter's timing is flawless."
Wilma Salisbury, The Plain Dealer