Batsheva Dance Company

 

Batsheva Dance Company

Choreographer: Ohad Naharin
 
Featuring: 16 dancers
 
Sony Centre For The Performing Arts
 
Saturday January 14 2017
 

 
Reviewed  by Ted Fox

 
Decadance 2017 is choreographed by Ohad Naharin and is a seamlessly stitched collage of segments from his earlier works.
 
As we enter the theatre, a solo dancer is performing. His movements are repetitious and highly physical with twists, spasms and amazing splits.
 
There are dancers sitting on chairs arranged in a semi-circle. They are dressed like Hassidic Jews, wearing traditional black jackets, black pants and white shirts. They sing in unison all 13 verses of a rock beat version of Echad Mi Yodir (Who Knows One?), a Passover song. The repeated beginning lyrics are "I know one! One is Hashem, one is Hashem, one is Hashem. Our God who is Heaven and Earth!" These lines are refrains throughout and they forcefully belt out the last line as they leap from their seats.
 
Their accompanying repetitive movements consist of spasms, twitching, legs opening wide, backs bending in extreme backward arches, hands gesturing wildly, fists clenching and faces grimacing. As one, they remove their clothes, tearing their jackets off and hurling all but their undergarments into a pile suggestive of a Holocaust image.
 
This repetition of movement and extreme gymnastic physicality is a signature of Naharin's Gaga choreographic process and is prevalent in all the segments.. For me it's as if the dancers are listening to their bodies and reacting to their inner impulses. Even when stationary the dancers appear taut with expectation of this. Their vocabulary is tightly choreographed, with arms and legs lashing out, hands gesturing, bodies falling heavily, bodies contorted.
 
Though the dancers appear simultaneous in their movements it is evident that they are carefully formed into lines and patterns that visually affected me while resulting in tableaus like framed photos even when clustered in groups across the stage.
 
In one segment the dancers move into the audience, each picking one of us out. It is  funny to watch them dancing with the company in different dance styles and to a variety of music genres. They are even lifted up and around! This passage ends with them dancing together cheek to cheek to Dean Martin. Only one selected audience member/dancer is left alone on stage, staring in disbelief at the audience. The others have gone. And the company, including her partner, are collapsed on the floor. She is great as she bows to the audience before leaving. By doing this, Naharin turns us into a community participating in the piece.
 
The music selection covers a wide range including bollywood, bossa nova, hip hop and rock. Classical music, including beautiful Vivaldi hymns, is used in the quiet slow less energy driven section involving duos and trios.
 

Decadance 2017 is a hypnotic, beautifully danced celebration of life with all its beauty, pain and joy, heightened by joyous golden lighting punctuated with brushstrokes of darkness.