FRIDAY, APRIL 24 AND SATURDAY, APRIL 25
The word “gimp” is one of those glaringly un-PC terms that doesn’t often pop up in polite company, let alone on a marquee, so you might be surprised to see it serving as the title of a dance performance
that sold out seats in New York last month. But if you dust off your dictionary, next to the expected entries for “a lame person” and “a halting, lame walk,” you’ll discover some other surprising definitions: “a fighting spirit,” “a ribbon-like, braided fabric,” and “to turn, vacillate, tremble ecstatically.” In GIMP, choreographer Heidi Latsky embraces all these meanings through dances designed specifically for the unique bodies of the show’s six dancers, four of whom are disabled. In this context, limbs that are crooked, shortened, or absent altogether reveal themselves as anything but liabilities, instead presenting opportunities for new forms of movement. Get your concept of “the body beautiful” totally transformed at the show’s New England premiere at the Institute of Contemporary Art (100 Northern Avenue, Boston, 617.478.3100). Tickets ($25, $20 for members and students) for the 8 p.m. performances can be purchased by visiting www.icaboston.org or by calling the box office at 617.478.3103.
