New Yorkers Unite

On Thursday, September 27th I was at Dixon Place to see Ephrat "Bounce" Asherie's, "A Single Ride." The performance was inspired by Asherie's love-hate relationship with New York's subway system.

With a heavy choreographic focus on break dancing, the dancers were able to successfully convey what a single ride on the subway can be. The group integrated different scenarios and then amplified each of those situations through developed phrase work. These arrangements included instances of falling asleep/being tired on the platform; Seeing a crazy person on one's ride (hilariously executed by one of the dancers chewing on a styrofoam cup -- the other dancers could barely hold back laughter); Being in too-close proximity to fellow riders, i.e. up in someones arm pit; Losing your wallet or purse; Triple checking your purse - ah the forgotten minds of jaded New Yorkers; Making a connection with a fellow rider, whether through humor, attraction, or both; And impatiently waiting for a train, loudly guffawing and heavily breathing, making annoyance obvious and amusing.

Though the costume changes were endless, I enjoyed the consistent breaking and hip hop choreography within an urban underground landscape. It matched without being cheesy. The phrase work reminded me of how modern dancers build a phrase through improvisation or varied inspiration, BUT I didn't have to be a part of the internal process to fully comprehend. Since I ride the subway everyday, multiple times a day, I could relate to the dancers. That was refreshing.

What's great about Dixon Place is that you can project onto the entire back wall. It is large and clear. Throughout "A Single Ride" a montage of different subway lines, colors, green-screened dancers, and vortex-like images appeared, creating a backdrop. A mapped reference. Even though Asherie is aware the audience is (very) familiar with the NYC metro landscape, the projections were trippy additives that helped the theme's progression.

I have to say there was a camaraderie in the audience of New Yorkers, laughing amongst each other, glancing over to their neighbor and smirking at mutually shared memories. Everyone watching knows what it's like to have that positive, negative or just plain inexplicable experience on the subway. It reminded me of when I see breakers on the subway with their headphones on, popping and marking movement with their neck, arms, shoulders and legs. You just know in an instant that they are a dancer. "A Single Ride" doesn't take itself too seriously. "Do you believe that I fell asleep and ended up all the way in Rockaway?!" Yeah, we get it.