BODY TRAFFIC: CHECK-MATE
As you may already be aware, Mr. X rarely comes anyplace with me voluntarily, except to the Wallis in Beverly Hills. We both know that you can never go wrong there.
I don’t have pix of two of the numbers from the show, but here’s the Wallis’ gorgeous Christmas tree. You can see the equally-attractive Chanukkah display on the right side of the pic, which is right across from the Box Office. Photo by Karen Salkin.
On top of Mr. X loving that theatre as much as I do, he was happy to see this new BodyTraffic show because the company was so great when we saw them there last year. And they continue to be.
We had another perfect time at the Wallis that night. Everything was good, from the always-nice Box Office personnel, to the kind staff member who offered to take our picture in front of their gorgeous Christmas tree, to the much-appreciated-by-everyone complimentary drinks before the show, to the cute, sweet, and helpful young dancer we chatted with on the patio, (who I fully expect to see on some stage soon,) to Drew, the company’s new PR guy, to, of course, the actual show!
Once again all the BodyTraffic dancers were superior, none more so than Chandler Davidson, who became my favorite dancer a year ago, and has retained that status with this performance.
This presentation featured a quartet of very diverse and just-the-right-duration dances. They were a wonderful mix!
The first one, titled Schachmatt (Checkmate), was the longest, at about twenty minutes. But they flew by. I had whispered to Mr. X that some of the choreography reminded me of Bob Fosse’s works, and when I read about the piece later, I learned that part of it was inspired by exactly that!
The photo op display on the Wallis patio. Photo by Karen Salkin.
The number began so simply, with the ten dancers doing uncomplicated-yet-effective moves that even I can still do, (which, believe me, is a miracle,) but it looked fabulous with all of them doing those Fosse-like moves ensemble. And it grew from there. I loved it!
It reminded me a bit of ’60s movies, and featured very fun and creative choreography by Cayetano Soto. And, as had happened when I saw this company a year ago here, my eye was drawn to Chandler Davidson. I’m so thrilled he’s still with this company. As I declared back then, and is still the case, he’s in my pantheon of dancers! He took my breath away once again. I really would like to see a show of just Chandler sometime in my life!
The design for the piece was a chessboard, so to that end, light-colored squares of material were placed on the dark stage floor. But…one of them came up a bit in the first couple of minutes! I was worried the whole time that a dancer was going to trip on it, as I’m sure I would have. (Okay, with that level of concern, I have now officially turned into my mother!)
Coalescence. Photo courtesy of BodyTraffic.
The second offering, Coalescence, choreographed by the lead dancer in it, Jordyn Santiago, consisted of beautiful fluid movements from the cast of a half dozen women. Prior to this, and not since I was a little girl ballet dancer, fascinated by ballerinas on toe, had I enjoyed seeing numbers with only females in them. I really need the guys. But this one was stunning! During it, I wrote a note, “This company is not fooling around!”
At the top of the show, BodyTraffic Founding Artistic Director, Tina Finkelman Berkett, explained a bit of what all of the compositions are about, which is immensely helpful, and of this one she said that it’s a tale of Jordyn’s life journey. I don’t know how I would have interpreted it otherwise, but it looked to me a bit like a bunch of tall Greek goddesses accepting a shorter one into their fold, so I’d take it as a tale of acceptance, which is always good. There seemed to be a lot of angst involved with the narrative, so it’s very similar to real life. But I believe that it ended up happy; at least I was happy to witness all that beauty!
Flyland, perhaps Mr. X’s fave of the evening, came after intermission. When it was over, he admiringly said, “That was really interesting,” an assessment with which I totally agree. A couple was doing most of the dancing lying on the floor, while the same duo was seen in projections on the giant backdrop. Neither of us could tell if the two dancers’ movements’ mirrored what was already recorded and shown in the projections, or if they were being shot from above and that’s what we were seeing projected live. That’s how exact their movements were. It was actually quite fascinating.
The wonderful evening ended with prolific creator Trey McIntyre’s Secret Goodbye, which he choreographed and brought together with the quartet of dancers in…just two weeks! Who does that??? So impressive. And it’s all set to Sam Cooke music, which I adore.
Secret Goodbye. Photo courtesy of BodyTraffic.
It had some of the most different choreography that I’ve ever seen, including the group even sort-of goonily dancing happily together at times, like little kids. Very joyous. But then it looked like each one perhaps died at some point—they leaned backwards and were caught by the others while we heard loud heartbeats.
So I’m not sure what it was all supposed to mean, (except perhaps the journey of life from childhood to old age,) but I didn’t care about that at all because I got to see Chandler Davidson again in it! Just as I had made a note before this number that, as good as the entire show was, for me “it needed a little more Chandler,” there he was. (By the way—I’m not alone in my extreme admiration for him—the entire audience cheered the most and the loudest for him that night. And, I have a feeling, every night.)
The very happy final curtain call. That’s Chandler Davidson taking his bow. Photo by Karen Salkin.
I suggest that whenever you have the chance to see a BodyTraffic show, you take it! No matter the venue. They perform all over the world.
But I say to see them especially at the Wallis, one of the overall most interesting theatres, (because the building was the stately Beverly Hills Post Office back in the day,) where every seat is perfect.
As a matter of fact, because this company’s offerings are always soooo popular, we were seated about three or four rows from the back on the side for the first time ever, and…we found those seats to have incredible sightlines! We were sooo comfortable up there. It just solidified my contention that all seats are wonderful in that venue!
I want you all to never miss either a BodyTraffic show or seeing something at the Wallis, so here are the websites you should really check-out for future performances: www.thewallis.org www.bodytraffic.com
