THE HANGOVER REPORT – Botis Seva’s hallucinatory BLKDOG arrives at The Joyce, engulfed in vulnerability and fury

Far from the Norm performs Botis Seva’s “BLKDOG” at The Joyce Theater (photo courtesy of the company).

Last night, I attended the opening performance of Botis Seva’s Olivier Award-winning BLKDOG at The Joyce Theater in Chelsea. Performed by the London-based dance company Far from the Norm — who are making their debut at The Joyce with this week’s performances — the piece is an abstract, hallucinatory deep dive into the psyche of a group of troubled youths as they navigate a world that’s systemically designed to repress them. As they dig into the recesses of their memories and psyches, their collective response ranges from catatonia to depression to lashing violence — both towards the world around them and unto themselves.

Seva puts a unique contemporary spin on hip hop dance, imbuing the genre with a heightened theatrical flair — shuffling, fluid, low-to-the-ground, and largely in unison. Over the course of the 70-minute work, the choreographer presents a fever dream-like progression of haunting stage pictures suggestive of fraught childhood memories, rape, violence, and lonely incarceration. Suffice to say, BLKDOG is an experience that’s emotionally draining and relentless in its intensity. It’s also a good example of how sometimes movement and body language can be just as — if not more — evocative than words or language in articulating highly charged states of mind.

The high-voltage Far from the Norm dancers do the piece proud, performing the evening-length piece with exciting precision and a sense of theater. Collectively and individually, they manifested emotions ranging from vulnerability to chilling rage, filling The Joyce stage with their passionate commitment to the material. BLKDOG is set to the turbulent soundscape by composer Torben Sylvest, whose distressed score and text are an ideal sonic backdrop for Seva’s choreography. Completing the picture are the contributions of Tom Visser’s atmospheric lighting, as well as Ryan Dawson Laight’s stylized, deeply unsettling costumes.

RECOMMENDED

BLKDOG
Dance
The Joyce Theater
1 hour, 10 minutes (without an intermission)
Through October 13

Categories: Dance

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