May 3 - May 10, 1996

SCRAP When last seen, members of the SCRAP Performance Group were dancing, dangling and stealthily maneuvering about a large grid-like scaffold set, as well as occasionally swinging from the ceiling of the Arts Bank stage. The result was a wild hyper-kinetic ultra-physical dreamscape of life and love in an eerie urban milieu. Their new piece, Traces, choreographed by Myra Bazell, reprises both the scaffold and the flying-high-in-the-air motif. Interestingly, the concept arose from very practical needs. "Last time I had just gotten over surgery and had a bad knee injury... I wanted to be able to hang from my arms and take the weight off my feet and knees," explained Bazell. With her injuries healed, Bazell still finds good reason to keep the scaffolding. "I like the split focus. I always just want to use the whole space like a canvas. I think it's a lot like a painting -- where some things are in focus but there's textures behing them." In Traces juxtaposed platforms offer multiple sites of interest for Bazell's dynamic journey, which is designed to contemplate our predatory predilections and the ways in which we fill insatiable holes in our psyches. The other piece on this new program, Katherine Livingston's Flesh in Arms, has performers wearing assorted unconventional protective attire, such as a Duchampian scrap metal costume, an erotic chain mail outfit and puffy pillow encasements. Livingston says the piece, inspired by the tale of Don Quixote and the teachings of Wilhelm Reich, deals with how we all wear different kinds of psychological armor, whether it's to protect us from others or from ourselves. "It's very surreal and has a comic edge," she comments. As may be expected from a SCRAP production, Flesh in Arms contains seemingly incongruous sequences, including mambo, tango and egg dances. The music for the work ranges from Beethoven to Astor Piazzolla to The World of Skin. Besides the basic SCRAP ensemble -- Bazell, Livingston, Eric Schoefer and Conrad Bender -- the show enlists the performing talents of Tony Agostinelli, Asimina Chremos, Esther Cowens, Ilaan Egeland, Paule Turner and Heidi Weiss, among others Everyone contributed to sessions of experimentation and improvisation. "It's a collaborative effort. It wasn't like I was a dictatorial choreographer. We all came together because we like each other's ideas," said Livingston. Adds Bazell, "When working with incredible artists, it's all about unleashing what they are." SCRAP Performance Group, Arts Bank, Broad & South Sts., Thurs.-Sat., May 2-4, 8 p.m., 893-1145 --Deni Kasrel

SCRAP in rehearsal. Photo by Michele Frentrop