Walking into the New York Live Arts theatre, I was immediately drawn to the sound of stomping. On the stage six blindfolded dancers stood in a circle and created a mesmerizing beat through their feet. When the lights came on they then began to form a recurring pulse through stamping, clapping, and slapping their thighs and feet. This pattern was kept up sporadically throughout the entire performance, sometimes with music playing over the sounds of this pulse. Variations in this recurring rhythm came with one dancer introducing a new sequence of moves, and then the others mimicking it. On the whole, the two or so hours long performance was comprised of variations of a basic set of stomps, claps, and slaps, with some exceptions.

One exception to the basic set of movements happened towards the beginning of the performance, when Mr. Sciarroni ended up alone on his back with his legs in the air only to have another dancer knock him down, one of several moments of humor. Following this, that dancer gave a small talk that the audience could leave at any time but could not return, and also that the performance would end when only one dancer or audience member remained. Mr. Sciarroni was the first to leave, simply walking off without fanfare. Even with some performers leaving, the others continued on. Sometimes as they moved around the stage, one would become isolated from the other, creating more comedic moments.

Throughout the performance there would be shifts of mood depending on how the dancers varied their movements and also on their interactions and expressions. At some points the dancers had stern expressions and sharp movements which adhered to the original pattern, creating a somewhat serious atmosphere. At other points, some dancers would smile and laugh as they played and joked around with one another, creating a fun atmosphere. There was a fluidity in these shifts which made the performance the more interesting to watch.

Later in the performance when other dancers decided to walk off, the remaining dancers would watch them leave but make no physical effort to stop them. This really connected back to the talk in the beginning in which the audience was told that one could leave but not return. The song “Say Something” was particularly apropos in last part of the performance when the final dancers ran off the stage. With two dancers remaining, one watched as the other left. Then on the line “I’m giving up on you,” the last dancer left, and really ended a touch of finality. After watching the entire performance, the amount of energy and effort in it all the way up to its final moments as well as the performance itself just leave an amazing impression.