Simplicity, humor, physical discipline: these are the three basic characteristics of the genre embraced by the American Second Hand Dance Company. Founded almost for fun in 1987 by three friends met at the State University of New York in Binghamton, Greg O’Brien, Paul Gordon and Andy Horowitz, the Second Hand Dance Company, despite the name it chose (“Second Hand”), is a professional trio whose style has been associated several times with that of Pilobolus. From the Washington Post to the New York Times, the American press has appreciated the bizarre acrobatic inventions of this trio who, sketch after sketch, enjoys showing off the muscular potential of the body, creating comical cartoon shapes in space.
After all, the three arrived at dance through paths that were not exactly canonical. As a boy, Greg O’Brien played soccer and track and field. Andy Horowitz, although he graduated from Binghamtom in theater, acted in Kung Fu films and worked as a stunt rider. And if the company’s name doesn’t correspond to a neglected quality of performance, the idea of “second hand” is certainly not foreign to the group, since Andy seeks out costumes and props for the shows from “stuff finder”. Paul Gordon spent his youth dividing his time between tennis and judo. Aspiring to become a doctor, during his college years, he devoted himself to organic chemistry, but in the end he found himself in Alaska fishing for salmon. Luckily, Paul studied dance at the traditional Joffrey Ballet School. Second Hand Dance presents itself like this and is an approach that fits well with the light-hearted tone of the group’s performances.
Their shows are usually made up of short pieces, many of which are accompanied not by recorded music, but by the voice and the rhythms of the feet on the floor. “Clackers”, one of the most famous pieces of the company, is a sort of crazy tribal dance. The percussive rhythm is given by the wooden extension of the tennis shoes with which the three hit the pans they carry tied to their bottoms. In “Exhibit A” Greg, Andy and Gordon instead show off circus somersaults, games of levers and counterweights thanks to which the bodies celebrate with movement the possibility of dance to create ever new forms. In “Slow Waltz with Dogs”, accompanied by music, the sketch is on the gestures of the canine world, in “Two Many Chefs” the fight for supremacy between the chefs is played by peeling giant carrots. In “Three Man of the Zoo” imaginary three-headed animals appear. Among the most evocative and most serious pieces of the Second Hand Dance Company repertoire we cannot fail to mention “Moving to Mahler”. The three intertwine in a human pagoda. One above the other, Greg, Gordon and Andy create symmetrical geometries with their arms and legs, emphasizing the potential of the inventor's acrobatic gymnastics, a kaleidoscope of figures in motion.
In these nine years of life, the company has performed in numerous cities in the United States, Japan, Russia and Europe, even piquing the curiosity of some airlines that have chosen to project the group's shows during flights to interest passengers.
