Psyched for PSY

by karen Krolak

When PSY blew into Boston the first time this year, we nearly missed it. Jason had purchased tickets way in advance but snowstorms and tech rehearsals tried to thwart us. We knew our timeline would be  tight when White Wave announced the schedule for the Cool New York Dance Festival. Our tech was at 11AM in the morning and due to a few other conflicts, we had planned to drive down to Brooklyn at 5AM.

Unfortunately, this was the view from our porch at 4:30AM. As you can see, our canine choreographer was a wee bit concerned.

As we headed towards Caitlin's house to gather up the dancers, the situation did not improve. In fact, her street was impassable in our lightweight FIT. Suitcases sledded over the snow and our intrepid crew persisted towards the turnpike.




Hours later as we were slogging through Connecticut, cars began making u-turns on the highway and nervous giggles erupted in our vehicle. Then we saw the clusterfork

and decided that driving the wrong way back to an on ramp made sense after all. Thanks to my G2, we were able to navigate on the fly and scoot pass the mess on alternate roads.

By the time we arrived in Brooklyn, major streets were actually plowed but we still had to push through a few intersections in DUMBO. Can you believe that we had three minutes to spare, er warm up, before the tech started?

Our return trip that afternoon was far less eventful but drug on for so many hours that we just barely hustled ourselves back to Beantown in time catch the start of PSY. Having been crammed in our tiny car for the bulk of 14 hours, I was crabby as we crawled into our snug balcony seats. In fact, I may have been muttering about how being in the audience felt like its own contortion act when the action began.

What unfolded on, around, and above the stage, however, was so worth every ounce of our earlier adventure. Floating into the surreal ambiance created by this stellar ensemble reminded me why I fell in love with the performing arts.

PSY digs into physical metaphors for neuroses that plague people using a broad spectrum of circus arts and movement styles. Although some aspects of it have dark edges is woven together with compassion and humor. Tomorrow's multiple personality interview with folks from Montreal's Les 7 Doigts de la Main will give you a fuller sense of the show but please don't wait til then to get your tickets. Seriously, run, hop, somersault, (just be glad you aren't driving through a Nor'easter) over to the ArtsEmerson website or box office now. You will love how the 7 fingers tickle your mirror neurons.

PSY 

2 weeks only!

July 12 to July 24

Cutler Majestic Theatre