Telophaza: By Batsheva Dance Company

"Joy, beauty, passion, unity, humour, tenderness, agony and
forgiveness...Telophaza celebrates these and more in an exhilirating,
multidimensional outburst of colour, music and movement, at once vibrantly
spectacular, yet surprisingly intimate." - Batsheva Dance Company.

Telophaza first premiered in the US in 2005, and has come a long way into Esplanade's Da:ns Festival after a stop at the Sydney Festival this same year. Although it ran for only 70 minutes, the piece was packed with movement and high energy, thus making it seem much longer. The large number of uniformly strong, athletic dancers onstage almost all the time coupled with the state-of-the-art video technology placed this piece in the realm of the spectacular.

In the opening set, the full cast executed one repetitive movement en masse, such as a bent-over shaking motif, while in the later set, a pendulating knee series allowed the dancers sitting on the floor to methodically inch their way downstage, all of which served to demonstrate sections done in unison separated by overlapping episodic sequences. Yet, the audience is given the freedom to choose between variety and uniformity amidst a wider girth. The continuous swift pacing and the propulsion of energy of dancers making their way on, off, and across the stage to the brief, but pulsating contemporary musical selections, all reintroduced a sense of spectacular closure.

Four video screens with live feed, set up at the back, introduce us to company members' close-up faces; they're scrutinizing the scene. As, one by one, they leave the camera stations and feed into an ongoing dance that director Ohad Naharin has begun, others enter via openings at the rear and replace them. This sequence was patterned and methodical as dancer by dancer stopped to look into the camera, and then moved on. We became aware of the underlying sequence well before this section ended. But these magnified faces were not there to reveal themselves in any intimate way. Their effect was more like photographic hyper-reality portraiture than the fleeting vulnerability nascent only in live performance. Whether we were looking at 20 dancers moving in unison, or a single face in a highly magnified close-up, the effect was the same: the persistent attention to surfaces that was distancing.

This sense of distance and control was accentuated in different terms by the amplified voice of “Rachel” the same voice that had asked the audience to turn off their cell phones before the show started. “Rachel” returned as a disembodied protagonist, or perhaps an audible master of ceremonies. She asked the audience to do simple tasks and they complied. They were taught to exult in the simple rotation of the wrist, punctuated by the forming of a fist. Apart from those shy ones, most of the house was engaged with "Rachel" and the pseudo-hypnosis.

Toward the end of the piece, the 20 company members sit facing us on chairs, and, again guided by one dancer (accompanied by "Rachel's" voice still in the background), we're invited to touch parts of our bodies while pondering certain questions, like "Touch your chin and think that you're enjoying yourself." Her final command, “Let’s dance,” appeared to give the audience full license to become dancers, though they had nowhere to move. When she gets us on our feet to dance, the 20 performers rise and walk away while the audience—although studded with the shy and the squeamish—cuts loose.

The dancers are remarkable, whether they're marching shoulder to shoulder, gesturing in unison, or exploding into a pointillist sea of squiggles (which was my favourite piece since the dancers were all smiley and demonstrated how a simple, repetitive motion executed in sync is beautiful all the same). Their steps dig into the ground, and expand over space. They can shoot into the air, fall, and rise without apparent effort. Their legs twist and fling so freely that their hip joints look oiled. In one interlude, we get to see just how individually marvelous they can be. The cameras are set in a circle framed by a pool of light. While performers walk the perimeter, various ones spell each other in the center. Taking turns for the spotlight, literally and figuratively speaking, the dancers and their exuberance was no less enthralling.

With Telophaza gone, I look forward to Batsheva's next show, and hopefully it won't take long.

"Batsheva's artistic integrity and innovation have earned the
company its reputation as one of the most inspirational and sought-after
companies - a true champion on the global map of performing arts, known for
artistic innovation, intense energy and cultural diversity. With 40 dancers and
250 annual performances in Israel and around the world, they are considered
Israel's leading cultural ambassador."