“Run Don’t Run”… Where do I even begin to talk about this carefully-choreographed display of artistic wonder. This beautiful masterpiece, which was sponsored by the 2013 Next Wave Festival and created by Brian Brooks, had its debut at BAM in late October. I had the pleasure to experience the show on Wednesday, October 23rd, and after seeing something like this for the first time ever, I must say please do run to see this performance before it’s gone for good. I would gladly recommend this to anyone who is looking for something new to watch and any individual who is an appreciator of dancing or the arts.

I’m going to be completely honest here folks- when I first went in that evening I was not expecting much. One could say that I felt truly skeptical and doubtful of the event. But this quickly changed as soon as I walked into the stage in which the show was being held. When I saw those symmetrically arranged sets of wires set up throughout the stage, as if they resembled the strings on a musical instrument, I was suddenly struck by a feeling of mystery. “What is this all about? What’s going to happen here?” These were the types of questions that I suddenly bombarded myself with as I took my seat near the front of the area and waited patiently for it all to start.

Then, out of nowhere, the lights went dim, the group of performers- both male and female- entered the stage, and a wide array of rather interesting background music, which accompanied the entire performance throughout, came into the scene. I personally found it very visually compelling that the rays of wire began to change colors and illuminate. When the show started, I also found the wide range of choreographed ‘dance moves’ to be even more impressive.

The range of dynamic arm and leg work consisted of many different rhythmic movements comprised of varied ranges of tempo, speed, and difficulty. I have noticed that the performers began the show slowly, walking near and around the lines between the sets of wires, attempting to build anticipation and give their audience a little taste of what’s to come. Soon enough, this transitioned into a display of artistic finesse and beauty for what would soon become an hour-long masterpiece of dancing, grappling, running, and surprisingly enough many martial arts-esque ‘fighting’ as well. It is clear that these guys tried to put everything they could into this from pushing to pulling and waltzing. The dancers did everything when attempting to do their routine, which included both trying to avoid and use the wires to to their advantage.

The thing about the show which I thought was the most interesting was not the technical music score by Christopher Lancaster, the presence of the wires on stage, or even the movements of the dancers. The most memorable thing I remember from the performance would have to be the fact that they succeeded in combining all those things together to make a remarkable show. The effort and talent that the performers put into this, the way they took turns leaving and entering the stage to emphasize their importance, and the way that they took a simple dance performance and turned it into a work of art. With the styles of dancing and musical scores as well as the choreography of the dance moves, Brian Brooks managed to make this show into a type of ‘story’ or ‘play’ by utilizing the conventions of such. The show started slow with walking, built itself up with time into dancing, climaxed with fast martial arts fighting and grappling, and finally finished itself up with slow movements once again.

In conclusion, I had a lot of fun with “Run Don’t Run”. There were many things that I enjoyed about the show, and I could say that the strengths of it, such as the music and choreography, definitely manage to overcome the weaknesses, such as the slow pacing. So please, go check this one out if you can, because it definitely will not be around for long- tickets run out fast! This show really surprised me in a good way and it currently may be the best performance I have seen to date. I give “Run Don’t Run” two thumbs up!