We’re All Gonna Go

In terms of artistic interest, the battle between heaven and hell has been more one-sided than the Harlem Globetrotters versus the Washington Generals. What’s the best book in the New Testament? Revelation. The best character in Paradise Lost? Satan. And does anyone even remember Dante’s Paradiso? The world-famous choreography team Emio Greco/PC continues the tradition of envisioning the place in their new dance piece, Hell. Inspired by the works of Dante and Sartre (the charming Frenchman who claimed that “Hell is other people”), Hell combines elements of tango, waltz, dance-hall, and classical forms set to music as diverse as Beethoven and swing. Maybe they should also throw in Michael Bolton for authenticity?

Since joining forces in 1995, Italian choreographer Emio Greco and Dutch theatre director Pieter C. Scholten have been pushing the limits of conceptual choreography and individual dancers’ bodies, garnering multiple international awards along the way. Dance magazine called their last major piece, Rimasto Orfano, an “experience of such creative brilliance and overwhelming emotion that even the most jaded critic could not help but be moved.” Maybe Abu Ghraib: the Musical is next? The show runs today and tomorrow.
May 8-9, 8 p.m.