Critical Mass

by Deni Kasrel

It's said that art imitates life, and that's certainly the case for Manfred Fischbeck, director of Group Motion Dance Company. A section of Fischbeck's latest work was inspired by a scene he encountered while visiting Tokyo, Japan. He came upon a busy intersection where several streets converge into a plaza. "What happens is, all the lights turn red for the cars and there's this mass of pedestrians crossing over from all sides," he recalls. "It was such an awesome image, this rush of bodies taking over that plaza. So my idea was, what if those people wouldn't just walk across, but stay? What if they didn't just rush off to work, but celebrate just being there?" Fischbeck's imagined response is seen in "Street -- Critical Mass," the final segment of The Dreamer and The Dreamed, a three-part piece that plays with the notion of the dreamer stepping into his or her dream. Like much of the group's work, its theme is conveyed abstractly; however, Dreamer does diverge from the company's familiar milieu, which is generally darker in nature. "We're not in that space this time," states Fischbeck. "This is much more playful, it's sort of light and quirky."

More Fischbeck material comes by way of Puppet-Zomby, choreographed and performed by Manfred's daughter, Laina. Presently a work-in-progress, Laina says "it's a story about the meeting of an angel, a demon and a human how each character has all of them in it, but one character is stronger than another." Featuring expressionistic movement, this one's a satirical work that, according to Laina, is presented in the atmosphere of "an old black and white movie."

Works by Emily Hubler and David Konyk, both members of Group Motion, round out the program.

Critical Mass: An Evening of New Works, Sat., Dec. 21, 8 p.m., $12-$20; Sun., Dec. 22, 3 p.m., $30 (Sunday show includes party and silent auction), Arts Bank Theater, Broad and South sts, 215-387-9895.