ENDLESS CRUSH
Introduced by a hypnotic and rhythmic score, each of the three dancers enter the performance with longing gazes into mirrors and into the faces of the audience. It’s a curious and impressive use of device. It is easy to conjure images of Shakespeare’s three witches that meet on heathen ground in Macbeth. Following scenes in this tight forty-minute work continue to impress, and the continued acknowledgment and longing gazes continue to linger throughout the performance, drawing you further inward. The music intensifies, they pull out the smoke machine, the dancers lift their game, and you are left feeling like you have just been smacked across the face with a wet fish- in the best possible way.
This is an oddly pleasing and slow burning work; when it reaches it stride, it really shines. Never would one imagine stumbling across Britney Spears within the context of a contemporary dance performance. Endless Crush deserves five stars purely for this use. But the performance is so much more than this, and so much deeper than a superficial glance at the state of the world. This does not detract from its playful energy, which is proudly on display here and damn refreshing to find in dance. Its approach and musings on the notions of identity and togetherness are tinged with sickly sweet youth. Performed by Amanda Betlehem, Megan Payne and Kathleen Campone each are a delight to watch.
Choreographically, the moves here are bold, dangerous and intimate. Performers ricochet across the space with speed and precision, coming within inches of the audience. Endless Crush is a sublime, playful and conversational piece of dance theatre.
Choreographed by Amanda Betlehem
Sound design by Amanda Betlehem with Robbie Avenaim
Performed by Megan Payne, Kathleen Campone and Amanda Betlehem.
