Shut Up and Dance

Fun, cute, and entertaining!... full review

Incredible show. Great story, well told, and so funny I laughed my butt off. Seriously, I'm still looking for my butt! And it makes me want to learn to TANGO! ... full review

Hi Stella. We have never met, nor did I have any expectations going into you show last night. You knocked it out of the park. I really enjoyed the content, your use of the space and your props, your incredible energy, and of course, your dancing. The show was well done. Congratulations and enjoy the rest of your run.... full review

I laughed, I cried, I peed. Your therapist(s) should be proud of the work you've done in developing such an honest and truly funny account of the path you danced to find your voice. We all got to laugh a lot louder because of it!... full review

How do you turn a diverse range of experiences and life lessons experienced by a vibrant young woman, into one indomitable story? The answer, inscribed at the heart of Stella Valente’s most stirring performance, "Shut Up and Dance" lies in the power of dance. The work, whilst funny and poignant, contains nuggets of wit and insight, yet there's a scrappiness about all of them that cumulatively educates and charms. Her story of life, love and dance and dealing in the physiology of action and sensation is revealed through the language of dance, a language that becomes increasingly complex. This is a clever concept, expertly directed by Richard Embardo, two narratives cueing us to see life and dance in alternate ways. Yet, her imaginat... full review

This was typical of Fringe one-person shows. The talent is always a strong storyteller with great energy. Honestly, you just can't go wrong under those circumstances. This performance was no exception. Mrs. Valente-Wilkins showed us how humorous she is, with big laughs coming from the audience on several occasions. I'm disappointed that there wasn't much in the way of dancing, even though I know the show wasn't a dance performance. The correlation between dance and life would have been better reinforced with more dance.... full review

Stella Valente-Wilkins is a Hollywood hyphenate: comedienne-dancer-yogini-writer-actress-raconteur. And all these Stellas meld into a delicious solo performance of coming-of-age stories, at turns both wonderfully funny and sad, told in her well-modulated Queens NY accent as girl-from-the-'hood. She riffs on family, romance, fate, slackers & goombahs. This lithe Italian-American beauty moves about the stage effortlessly on a lovely pair of dancer's legs (she taught at Arthur Murray) and pushes plywood cubes into the shape of an Argentinian café, hospital waiting room, bedroom, and automobile (the cubes could use a bit less choreography.) The twists and turns of her life are often riotously funny and sometimes a little haunting. And there is r... full review