Dance Review: Flawlessly to the MAX! -Batsheva Dance Company at BAM

Boys and Girls, gather around Daddy Dante and let me tell you of a time when dancers were human and dance pieces were filled with tiny little mistakes.  Dancers occasionally would fall off their leg, or they might miss a step, or be out of time with the other dancers, and perform to music that was a melodious tune.  That was a very long time ago.  That time is no more!

Batsheva Dance Company has pioneered the entire face of contemporary dance and has created dancers that are able to perform with perfection and complete synchronization to abstract soundscapes,  simple repetitions of counting to 10, and metallic screeching.  Batsheva Dance is hot!

Finally I went to see a show and it wasn’t snowing, raining, or in the middle of a hurricane or tornado watch; this time I just had to travel to Brooklyn . . . . Being in New York, my limits are constantly being tested.   Wednesday night at BAM, Batsheva Dance Company brilliantly, and I reiterate, FLAWLESSLY performed Max.  Max is an hour long piece of comprised of 10 dancers and a string of vignettes of group sec tions solos, duets, trios and so on.  It is choreographed by the company’s Artistic Director, Ohad Naharin and the music, or shall I say "sounds" and lack of it,  by Maxim Waratt.

The evening’s work starts off with the 5 couples scattered around the stage.  The women are in grand plie, and the men are standing next to them.   After about a minute of silence and no movement, all the women fall to one knee in absolute perfection, and so it begins!  Each vignette seems to refer to classical vocabulary as a base, and then, they seem to grow beyond what would seem humanly possible.  There are sections of movement that are so quick and physically instinctual that it doesn’t seem possible that it is choreography at all, but very intense improv.  The thing that messes you up though, is when you have six dancers all doing it together, you realize you are watching some of the most finely tuned dance machines in the dance world.

Speaking of machines, let’s talk about how these divas and divos had no problem standing on one leg, pressing into relevé while doing crazy rond de jambes with the gesture leg without even the smallest of shakes that hit us all the second we see them on stage.   I mean, sometimes, I can’t even stand on both feet without shaking.  Each dancer possessed strength I didn’t know was possible . . . and their facility, OMFG!  Back to ballet class and Pilates for me! 

Okay lastly, I want to just briefly talk about the philosophy of the work.  A friend that I spoke with after the show said she loved how there were no transitions -a section was over then a blackout, then the next section.  Sometimes music married two sections through darkness and sometimes not.   As I watched the piece progress over, what seemed to be a very short hour, I thought, this is what the future will be like.  Art will say what it has to say without the extras.  Max doesn’t waste the audiences’ time, or leave frivolous moments to needlessly linger on.  It speaks briefly, loud and clear,  "We are a strong community that work together and separately.  We are individuals and we are a group, we are 1 and we are 10."  The more I think about the piece, the deeper it goes, and the more it affects me.  It was inspiring to be a witness to an important work that will shape the future of dance.

Batsheva Dance Company is a fierce collection of dancers giving you work that cannot be missed.  For all you dancers out there, any and every chance you get to see them you must.  There is no denying Max will belong to a list of dance works that will always be remembered and referred to as a piece that played a role in forming and inspiring the future generations of dance.

Photography by Gadi Dagon

www.batsheva.org
www.bam.org

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Dante Puleio
Performance: Batsheva Dance Company
Choreographer:  Ohad Naharin, Artistic Director
Venue:  Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Brooklyn, NY
Date:  March 4, 2009 
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