Live your game show dreams at BODYVOX’s THE SPIN! It’s a different show every night, with a little help from the audience and a giant wheel of dance.
As a person who grew up on game shows like The Price is Right and Wheel of Fortune, I was intrigued by the format of BODYVOX’s latest offering. The dancers prepare twenty-two (!) performances and have costumes on standby. Each night, audience members are invited to spin a wheel, and fate determines the night’s performances. I already knew the dancers at BODYVOX were crazy talented, but to prepare 250 minutes of choreography and be ready to perform any one of the dances at the spin of a wheel? This is next level, indeed.
When I asked my tween if she would be interested in spinning the wheel, I was delighted by her strong, affirmative YES. I’ve lost the ability to predict her reaction to most things as we approach the teen years, but BODYVOX always lands in the cool category. (Does Gen Z say cool?)
The show destiny dealt us was full of BODYVOX’S trademark wit and mischievous spirit. The wheel is stocked with BODYVOX favorites, and I was delighted to see “Dream Ascending” again, a brilliantly moving solo piece danced by Daniel Kirk. The rest of the show was as random as you would expect — one moment we watched Titanic passengers pass through the waves, the next we saw “the trippiest piece on the program,” “Garden of Synaesthesia.” Even the audience member selection process was entertaining, and prizes — from class passes to slices of pizza! — were offered to the audience between dances.
There were more children than usual at this performance (most shows are recommended for ages 8+), and all of them were invited down together to spin the wheel, including my daughter. Her favorite performance of the night featured a green screen; mine was “Cosmosis,” a beautifully intimate piece that I feel so lucky to have seen.
Every time we attend a show at BODYVOX, I leave feeling I could see dance like this nowhere else, full of extreme originality, athleticism, and playfulness. At THE SPIN, I left knowing that the show we saw, that particular combination of innovation and humor, was unique to that moment, never to be seen again.
I’m tempted to go back and see what fate delivers at the next performance.
THE SPIN at BODYVOX
April 6-8, 13-15, 2023
Tickets $25-$70, and there’s not a bad seat in the house.
Masks required at the Saturday matinee on April 15, not required otherwise.
Get tickets here.
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