Another Telepathic Thing

By JBFC Managing Director Dominick Balletta

Jonathan Demme’s film of Big Dance Theater’s (BDT) Another Telepathic Thing is bringing JBFC audiences an intimate look into the world of contemporary performance. The style of choreographer Annie-B Parson and director Paul Lazar is to respectfully dismantle narrative (in this case Mark Twain’s “The Mysterious Stranger“), movement, visual art, and music; recombining them into an event that is by turns inscrutable, accessible, visceral, and formal, playful and drop dead serious.

Having been part of the downtown performance scene for a number of years (as Managing Director of Performance Space 122 in the mid-1990s), it is always exciting to watch artists working with a sense of adventure, experimentation, and ‘what the heck’ bravado as they developed their individual style without regard for traditional structure or boundaries (I remember when Eric Bogosian was a highly regarded dance curator who wrote character sketches in his off moments). As with The Wooster Group, Meredith Monk’s House Foundation for the Arts, and Richard Foreman’s Ontological-Hysteric Theater, BDT’s spirit is evident on stage. Aspects of Another Telepathic Thing inform Ms. Parson’s work on diverse projects like David Byrne’s Here Lies Love, David Bowie’s musical Lazarus, and even Demme’s Ricki and the Flash.

If you are planning to join us at Another Telepathic Thing, the best advice I can give is to leave a traditional notion of dance at the door, and allow yourself to experience the company at work.  If you have questions at the end (and I’m sure you will) Annie, Paul, and David White, the impresario behind Dance Theater Workshop, will be there in conversation.