VERDICT

Screen, faces, smiling, interconnection, drama, tension, flashing lights are all components that shape the abstract performance of "The Invention of Minus One." Jonah Bokaer's performance at Abrons Arts Center Henry Street Settlement portrays the matters of life and human nature from strains of DNA to the complexities of relationships and emotions.

Award-winning dancers Holley Farmer, Rashaun Mitchell, and Banu Ogan breathe life into their movements, inhaling the audience's attention with the complexities of the messages in the show and need for an open mindset.

When the performance commences a screen is the backdrop of a set that appears in the midst of a photo shoot. Umbrellas are mounted on the screen making a three dimensional affect to the short silent film of people caught in candid moments. As the three dancers enter the stage their costumes appear to have a personality of their own, ranging from silver sparkles to tailored jackets. Instead of embodying the personalities evoked from their costumes the dancers remain neutral and allow the body's movements to set the mood. The screen figures movements coincide with the dancers. The three dancer's movements are almost robotic and structured to the point of ultimate beauty and technique. As the dance continues static and machine-like sounds are heard.

The dancers become synchronized as the dance becomes more intertwining and physically connecting. Large shadows of the dancers are cast across the walls of the theater while the screen shows images that appear as strains of DNA. Later on in the performance contrast is shown between the different components of life from strains of DNA to complexities of human relationships. A love triangle evolves between the three dancers. The male dancer moves from one woman to the other in a dance that evokes both passion and bitterness; leaving one woman to ponder in the darkness. Even as the new couples dance is taking place the eye is drawn to the woman in the darkness. Pictures are scattered across the stage; that were taken sporadically during the performance. The abandoned woman gathers up the pictures slowly, bringing them back to her corner; depicting how she is trying to piece back her life and find her identity. As the performance concludes the dancers are synchronized again, allowing room for healing and a need for connection that has become human nature.

The audience's contentment with the performance is very apparent as they give a standing ovation. Many messages were illustrated - life is a matter of physics, survival of the fittest, but most of all, human nature is untamable and not meant to be understood, but surrendered to.