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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Botis Seva / Far From the Norm

A 2020 performance of BLKDOG.

Oct 9–13, 2024
175 8th Ave, New York, NY 10011, USA

The East Londoner Botis Seva made BLKDOG in 2019, and it has been touring ever since. This spring, the ensemble piece hits various cities in Switzerland, as well as Seoul, Dublin, and Marseille. The Sadler’s Wells associate created the piece, he has said, “for the voiceless people, who are trapped in their minds, even when their heart is like: ‘I want to find love.’” Rather than giving voice to the voiceless, though, BLKDOG is the visual analogue of being muted. It conjures entrapment. The stage is sunk in a blue gloom, the dancers are hooded, and a low, loud electronic score fills the space with claustrophobic echo. After an hour, we don’t just know what it is to be trapped, we feel it. Seva, aged 32, has said hip-hop dance is ripe for theatrical development. With his small London troupe, Far from the Norm, he is showing the way. —Apollinaire Scherr