Fascinating rhythms

18/11/2007

“Mechanical Trio in a Hot Country” is possibly the most riveting of their joint works. The three go on stage in simple monochromatic costumes with their first names printed on their backs: Yossi, Oded and Tali (Tali Peretz-Laor). This is a design decision that bestows a personal identity and causes differentiation within the unifying color, this also allows for intimate closeness through the first names in a production that speaks specifically about the merging of identities in the context of the “Mechanical Trio” that is defined in the program as “a prison for emotion” where “their awareness is negated, and their desires become similar”.

The first part is danced to silence, and later on is supported by the right soundtrack designed by Ohad Fishof. Graf and Berg in fact create a tight and consolidated production with regard to all the artistic components, that arouses a sensation of urgent intensiveness through crowded formations, in which each of the three seems to seek to be included within the space of his counterpart’s body, like a boiling mixture in which despair and desire merge into one.

But the two go even further and deal just as frequently with language itself as they dismantle and assemble movements and sentences from distinct parts, separated in the sections of the body. The lack of pause in the movement process, leads to a kind of flow that simulates a state of watching “frame by frame” on a screen, which serves to analyze minute details in a recording of dance, and at the same time refers to the history of the birth of motion pictures as well as to the technique of the first animated films.

This particular deconstruction that also speaks to the culture of printed comics marks the events not exactly realistic; the audience grasped the deceptive duality in what was directly visible, and responded with unrestrained laughter to situations that would normally be seen as frighteningly serious. Thus the “mechanical” aspect also incorporated an option for intimate reference regarding the dancers.

The three create fascinating rhythms within sentences of movement, a kind of base, a hidden current that the visible dance rides upon.

The three talented performers were seen at their best and together they do in fact work as a select, skilled and experienced unit that is familiar with the goal and is in control of the means to reach it. The rich language is another central ingredient that brings the enjoyment temperature to the boiling point when viewing the “hot country” of the title.

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