By VIVIEN SCHWEITZER [NY Times, 1 September 2008]

At first glance the stylized movements of the group of adults and teenagers attached to one another’s wrists with long crepe ribbons seemed to be some kind of avant-garde twilight tai chi. But these exercises on the Red Hook Marine Terminal docks in Brooklyn, against a striking backdrop of Governors Island and the Manhattan skyline, were part of preparations last week for the Vertical Player Repertory production of Offenbach’s “Tales of Hoffmann.” It opens on Friday in this picturesque outdoor spot.