by Kate Forgach
MUMMENSCHANZ’s “The Musicians of Silence” show came to the Lincoln Center Wednesday and delighted an audience packed with giggling children and their equally appreciative adult counterparts.
For 42 years, the Swiss company has performed its surrealistic form of dance using puppetry, masks and lights and shadows. What MUMMENSCHANZ does is difficult to describe, but incredibly easy to grasp, once seen.
Giggle, chortles and cheers filled the Main Performance Hall as the dancers contorted their bodies inside giant slinkies, stretched clay masks into a variety of recognizable images, or manipulated giant hands to start the show.
I’ve now seen MUMMENSCHANZ perform three times and have to admit I was disappointed to find they were performing almost identical choreography for the third time. I’d hoped for something fresh; specifically something as fresh as when I first saw them in a tiny New Orleans theatre more than 35 years ago with an audience primarily composed of dance snobs and critics.
It was a bit sad to see the company, founded in Paris in 1972, still replicating their original gigs. On the other hand, it was delightful to see so many youngsters simply appreciating, instead of analyzing. To that I say giggle on, MUMMENSCHANZ. -For more reviews, listen to Kate Forgach's Tattle Tales on KRFC 88.9
MUMMENSCHANZ’s “The Musicians of Silence” show came to the Lincoln Center Wednesday and delighted an audience packed with giggling children and their equally appreciative adult counterparts.
For 42 years, the Swiss company has performed its surrealistic form of dance using puppetry, masks and lights and shadows. What MUMMENSCHANZ does is difficult to describe, but incredibly easy to grasp, once seen.
Giggle, chortles and cheers filled the Main Performance Hall as the dancers contorted their bodies inside giant slinkies, stretched clay masks into a variety of recognizable images, or manipulated giant hands to start the show.
I’ve now seen MUMMENSCHANZ perform three times and have to admit I was disappointed to find they were performing almost identical choreography for the third time. I’d hoped for something fresh; specifically something as fresh as when I first saw them in a tiny New Orleans theatre more than 35 years ago with an audience primarily composed of dance snobs and critics.
It was a bit sad to see the company, founded in Paris in 1972, still replicating their original gigs. On the other hand, it was delightful to see so many youngsters simply appreciating, instead of analyzing. To that I say giggle on, MUMMENSCHANZ. -For more reviews, listen to Kate Forgach's Tattle Tales on KRFC 88.9
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