Off Putting in a Good Way

review by Heaven Bellamy

3/13/17

           

      

The show Private Games, done by the company BODYTRAFFIC is an emotion provoking show that uses several elements of theatre to entertain the audience. The dancers in this company were incredible, and the choreography was challenging but not enough so that the dancers didn’t look amazing while doing it.

The opening section, Chapter one, is a brief preview of what else is to come as the dancer Tina opens with a torturous looking jazz combo. She does an array of spinning and turns that go tirelessly on the ground, then right back up from the tops of her feet. She does a series of comical movements with her arms as well, that end up being a sort of motif for the rest of the show. Each time she did these sporadic moments, the audience almost always reacted with a whistle or a laugh, to which she smiled back.

            The following sections named, Once Again, before you go, and A Trick of Light were fast paced, and abstract. The most memorable moments from these pieces were the three times that the dancers directly addressed the audience, and the times where the dancer named Guzman played conductor with the dancers. The instances where the audience was addressed was almost, awkward to experience as an audience member. Two of the dancers did the same bit twice, telling the audience that they “looked wonderful” and that they could smell us all the way from here. The idea of smell is also a running theme as in several places the dancers join together in the smelling of their own feet.

            The piece orchestrated by Guzman was visually pleasing, and incredibly comical. Each time that he conducted the rest of the dancers with his body, (since his shirt was off) it appeared that even with subtle movements he was strenuously using every muscle in his body. Even his neck had veins that were popping out because of how fully he was doing the choreography. The immediate response from the rest of the dancers that were being orchestrated by Guzman had extremely sharp reaction timing which memorized the audience into thinking that maybe they were all connected by a piece of string.

            Private Games, by BODYTRAFFIC is certainly worth the watch at the ICA in Boston. It is a witty, comical, and luring theatrical show that is sure to be the most unique way of expression with body gestures and movement that New England has ever seen.