BODYTRAFFIC

Review by Celia Ipiotis

Unquestionably talented dancers pack the ranks of Bodytraffic, a popular dance company based in Los Angeles. When their season opened at the Joyce Theater, the audience was pumped. Artistic Director, Tina Finkelman Berkett, selected three impactful works, each with its own identifying structure. 

Trey McIntyre, A choreographer with a following who until 2014 ran his own company, inserts elements of whimsy and and rock ‘n roll power in his 2024 work Mayday. Set to the music of Buddy Holly — the pioneering rock ‘n roller of the early 1950’s — Hollys’ hits includeThat It’ll Be The Day and Peggy Sue.  Referencing Holly’s tragic death in a plane crash, a model airplane passes from dancer to dancer–much the same way dances are passed body to body.

Movements trickle from one dancer to another while Holly’s music energizes the surrounding area. Two visuals reoccur, dancers wearing oversized black horn- rimmed glasses and a rapid run in place. McIntyre’s knack for easy going choreography engages the audience in skilled group and small group interactions that wash over the classic rock ‘n roll soundtrack.

Co-founder of Ballet X and now a freelance choreographer, Matthew Neenan’s  2024 I Forgot The Start burrowed into a poignant soundtrack featuring numerous recording artists including the great Sinead O’Connor and Sufian Stevens. Illuminated in silhouettes, the dancers stretch across the stage rocking and swinging their arms, catching their breaths and pressing ahead. Filmy white outfits by Marion Talan de la Rosa contribute to the unfolding fluidness, unexpected lifts and tricky noodlings on the floor. Throughout the piece, a sense of thoughtfulness and connectedness prevails, pulling the dancers into a line of shared movements and supportive couplings. The ballet is framed by Christopher Ash’s ephemeral lighting and lone projections of tree limbs in various states of existence.

Projected large scale images by painter Ernie Barnes of vibrantly colorful, elongated and curvaceous Black dancers from his painting Sugar Shack dress up the back scrim. An undeniable joy and exuberance fill the images projected by Yee Eun Nam and set to the choreography of Juel D. Lane to a commissioned score by Munir Zakee. 

Lane’s Incense Burning on a Saturday Morning: The Maestro fills the stage with kinetic and visual motion. Musing by himself on stage, a lone painter’s arms flare side to side releasing wavy strips of color on the scrim. That spray of color announces the vibrant paintings projected on the full width and height of the back wall surrounding the dancers bounding in jazz, Afro Caribbean, and modern inflected movements. Couples drop into bent knees over rolling hips and arms reaching in syncopated liberation while, jamming against the dance party images depicted by Barnes.

Adding to the visual impact, Jarrod Barnes’ colorful costumes complement the immersive paintings. Generating a strong rhythmic platform, the outstanding dancers — who appear capable of embodying every imaginable dance aesthetic — jam together and break apart into Lindy style close-body partnering. An enjoyable evening, Bodytraffic successfully navigated a well appointed program at the Joyce Theater.

EYE ON THE ARTS, NY — Celia Ipiotis