“Dance at the Odyssey,” several weeks of curated dance performances, always brings interesting surprises to the stage. One of the most innovative and “outside” works was presented on Saturday February 8, 2025 in their perfect black box theater, where every seat is a good one.
Cool live music played by multi-instrumentalist Maxwell Transue, along with greetings from featured artist Spenser Theberge, brought a friendly vibe to the room as the audience found their seats. Three mic stands with corded live microphones were set randomly onstage. Theberge used these throughout as props and to amplify his musings both vocally and physically.
Dance at the Odyssey – (L-R) Maxwell Transue and Spenser TheBerge in “Intimates” – Photo by Slade Segerson.
Theberge is a beautifully trained dancer who has worked with Nederlands Dans Theater and The Forsythe Company among others and is a noted choreographer and dance educator in his own right. However, this was not a dance show per se, but more of an experience with dance. “Intimates” is the title and as the piece develops this is what it becomes, intimate. To begin Theberge, dressed in beige rehearsal clothes, moved constantly while speaking repetitively in a call and response manner urging members of the audience to recite the word “Bounce,” in just the manner he demanded. This was an inauspicious start to the evening and though the word was “Bounce,” initially the show felt earthbound. Yet slowly an atmosphere began to develop as he danced kinetically while riffing on the word and building a mood until he over played this trope and lost his momentum. Understanding his motivation in the use of “bounce” was also elusive but perhaps that was the point.
Dance at the Odyssey – (L-R) Maxwell Transue and Spenser TheBerge in “Intimates” – Photo by Slade Segerson.
This then was the gist of the show throughout. Short segments based on repeated words or phrases, “Bounce,” “I should remember but I don’t,” “I see you” etc., all interspersed with non-stop movement, poses and a visceral build of tension which was perfectly matched by the improvised score. However, without a clear throughline even the strongest segments dissipated rather than ending on an emotional high note.
Dance at the Odyssey – Spenser TheBerge (right) in “Intimates” – Photo by Slade Segerson.
However, when Theberge’s ideas did come together he cast a spell over the audience and held us in his grip. This was exactly the case in “Should it go like this?” Here he loosely recreated his interaction with sometime collaborator Jermaine Spivey whom he continually asked, “should it go like this?” to which a “stand in” for Spivey replied, “I don’t know.” Musician Transue took this interaction and built it into an intensely pulsating underscore of a thousand repeating voices sweeping us into the hyper active mind of Theberge. Dancing as if possessed Theberge threw himself into a remarkable sequence of non-stop movement making it impossible to look away as he roamed the stage hungry if not desperate for approval. The repetitive, quirky, technically challenging and always riveting movement led to a crescendo as Theberge took a much-needed break and we were left to absorb what we had just seen. This was followed by work which also had moments of brilliance but the driving force of “Should it go like this?” was not duplicated. Every sequence was overly long but there is no doubt that when it worked, it was spellbinding. Lighting design by RS Buck enhanced every mood and movement.
Dance at the Odyssey – (L-R) Maxwell Transue and Spenser TheBerge in “Intimates” – Photo by Slade Segerson.
This show calls for a director, a third eye to edit and cull the indulgences and allow the brilliance of Theberge to shine through. I for one will be looking to see what he does next no doubt it will be another interesting dance foray into his idiosyncratic mind.
As always, the opportunities given to the dance community by the Odyssey allow for just such work as “Intimate” to be seen and appreciated and allows the creator to present work in a safe environment. This is a gift to the us all.
Dance at the Odyssey concludes this weekend with Gheremi Clay (Clay Collective), Friday, February 14 & 15 at 8pm and Sunday, February 16 at 2pm.
For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble website.
To learn more about Spenser TheBerge, please visit his website.
Written by Tam Warner for LA Dance Chronicle.
Featured image: Dance at the Odyssey – (L-R) Maxwell Transue and Spenser TheBerge in “Intimates” – Photo by Slade Segerson.
