Audience Reviews

AUDIENCE REVIEW: Batsheva Dance Company

Company:
Batsheva Dance Company

Performance Date:
Jan. 31, 2009

Company
Batsheva Dance Company

Show / Event Name
Deca Dance

Performance Date
Jan. 31, 2009

Venue / Location
SUNY Purchase

Your Occupation:
Choreographer

Last time you moved your body:
Thursday

Have you ever seen this company/ before?
Tell us a bit about your history with this group/performer?
I've seen this company perform numerous times and have also seen Naharin's choreography on some other companies before.

Why did you go to the show? What did you expect to see?
Batsheva Dance Company is one of my favorite dance companies and I am a fan of Ohad Naharin's work. (I'm a little biased)
I expected to see amazing dancing and genious choreography.

What was your favorite moment(s)? What inspired you?
I have a few; when the company did excerpts of Minus 16 and brought people up from the audience to dance along with them. Somehow they managed to keep the integrity of the choreographed sections while keeping their surprised guests onstage entertained.
I am also inspired by Naharin's very formulaic way of piecing sequences and staging together. There were many occasions in Three that made your jaw drop, Naharin knew how to work with audience' focus and make sense of everything by changing the dynamic, or working with repitition, or creating a pattern of movement that would generally morph into the next thing.
The dancers were extremely agile and even their simplest movement to their hardest phrases appeared fluid. There is a naturalness to the way they move. (Must be all that Gaga technique)

Describe as plainly and as specifically as you can what you actually saw. We are going for description without judgement.
There is no need for complete sentences, phrases and word lists are fine. You can describe these elements or anything you can think of: the artists, the kinds of movement, the qualities of the movement, the use of the stage/space, the musicality/timing...
Jigsaw puzzle of pieces
Humor
Athleticism
Expansive use of space
Musicality
Fluid
Cat-like
Strength
Many dancers

Do any images, colors or feelings pop into your head when you think about this show?
Cats
Ligaments
Bones
Muscles
Water flowing through the human body

Describe any or all of these elements: music, lighting, the venue. - How did they contribute (or not) to your enjoyment of this performance?
The venue was really spacious and a perfect venue to host such a large cast of dancers.
The music was varied and very lively at times and soft at other times, sometimes recorded spoken word would be used and it enhanced the meaning of that particular section/excerpt.

Would you like to see this performance / company again? Would you recommend it to a friend?
Why or why not?
Absolutely! I rented a car to go see them perform outside of the city and it was well worth all the trouble to get up there. I took my boyfriend with me and he loved the show.

What would you like to have seen more of? Less of?
I would have liked to see complete works not just a piecing of excerpts from their repetoire. I could have seen less of the duets in the first half of the show. I believe that Naharin does his best work with a large cast of dancers. 

If you could, what would you ask the choreographer / dancers?
Apparently, there are protests going on against their US tour about the events that happened in Gaza in Dec. If you could talk to the protesters what would you ask them? How would you respond to the protesters?