There is no doubt that the Israeli Batsheva Dance Company knows how to captivate with the visceral and contagious dance conceived by its mentor, Ohad Naharin. Three showcases the intricate layering of movement that Naharin creates as a tangible embodiment of human emotions.
Structured in three parts, the second and third are introduced by a dancer who appears downstage with a monitor in hand, describing what the audience is about to see. Three opens with a masterful male solo set to Bach’s Goldberg Variations as interpreted by Glenn Gould. When the group arrives, a dance unfolds, oscillating between strength and fragility, animated by the musical counterpoint and spreading from body to body, capturing every nuance of the soul in its form. The first part is titled Bellus, and the title could not be more fitting.
This is followed by Humus, which is entrusted to the generative female force. The contemporary nature of the gesture is absolute, yet the piece emanates something ancestral in the sounds emitted by the performers, in the rhythmic walks, and in the beats of hands on bodies.
It may seem like a preparatory ritual for the blossoming of the third part: Secus. Everything is clear. We see couples, then groups, and then couples again without gender constraints. The dancers entwine with one another after a sudden blackout, then walk downstage to show us their truth (and nakedness). This serves as a reminder that this is life, to which we are all invited to participate, set to the notes of "You’re Welcome" by the Beach Boys.
