Short attention span theatre

Dancer-choreographer Pamela Trokanski is known for works that are both athletic and idiosyncratic. But they also are thought-provoking pieces of theater.

Her latest program, 8 Seconds, challenges audiences to think about their shrinking attention spans and lessening ability to focus. Whether it be technology, information overload or situational stimuli, the human mind will wander. But focus and distractibility make for two sides of the same coin that is the brain. To this end, there’s a huge human brain sitting at the back of the stage throughout the production.

How we manage the two is our challenge, and Trokanski’s piece adds to that question by providing distracting dance images that take place at the same time as the “main” dance piece.

The performers include members of the Pamela Trokanski Dance Theatre, her apprentice company and Third Stage, a multigenerational group with dancers ranging in age from 8 to 85. One of the program’s most interesting pieces, “Run,” paired the cast’s youngest member (the extremely talented 8-year-old Asher Habicht) with its most senior dancer, Allegra Silberstein.

Also of note: a Star Wars battle segment took on a political sheen with the dark forces wielding red light sabers and the forces for good wielding blue.