THE HANGOVER REPORT – Zvi Gotheiner’s ON THE ROAD, after Kerouac, is inspired dance

ZviDance's "On the Road" at BAM Fisher

ZviDance’s “On the Road” at BAM Fisher

Last weekend, I had a chance to catch choreographer Zvi Gotheiner’s dance adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s intimate BAM Fisher space. The hour long dance piece, part of BAM’s ongoing Next Wave Festival, is less of a literal translation of the seminal novel than an attempt to convey its atmosphere – the sense of freedom and spontaneity of being on a road trip. Past and future don’t register. It’s the present that matters, a tenet so central to dance as an art form.

Mr. Gotheiner and his company, fittingly called ZviDance, do a marvelous job of accomplishing this goal. Unlike many contemporary dance works I’ve seen (which seem to dissipate into thin air as soon as they’re over), there’s a vitality and clear sense of intent to On the Road that has stuck with me for days afterwards. The dancers are beautifully idiosyncratic, giving a sense of “characters” being on the BAM Fisher stage. Mr. Gotheiner’s choreography, which is performed against the backdrop of Joshua Higgason’s hypnotic video designs and performed to Jukka Rintamki’s distinctive score, is muscular and driving, without being unnecessarily frenetic or fussy. This is inspired, clear-eyed dance-making.

RECOMMENDED

 

ON THE ROAD
Dance
ZviDance at BAM Fisher
1 hour (without an intermission)
Closed

Categories: Dance

Leave a Reply