Zuštiak at the extremes

There seems to be a wickedly smart psychology of soundscaping in today's dance, with the latest example of this coming in Pavel Zuštiak/Palissimo's Blind Spot--running now through Sunday at Performance Space 122. The music alternately lulls and whips the listener, opening up regions of disturbing awareness. The set, arranged by director-choreographer Zuštiak, suggests rapid slippage between heavy haze and piercing light, between distinct layers of consciousness, perhaps between life and afterlife, by way of an Alice-in-Wonderland mirror. The obsessive activity of the amazing performers--Gina Bashour, Yo-el Cassell, Ashleigh Leite and Anthony Whitehurst--gives us a sense of minds and bodies at the extremes, stripped of any civilizing connection to sense and consensus reality. Blind Spot is, at once, melancholy and manic, and if you have been sufficiently shaken, a sudden visual revelation at the very end might leave you close to tears.

Performance Space 122: June 11-15 at 8pm with an additional late show on Saturday at 1opm