‘I was relieved that I didn’t understand, because it forced me to remain constantly engaged in the piece.” The translator for last night’s post-performance discussion with the Argentine foursome, Compañía Contenido Bruto was not the only one watching the U.S. premiere of their piece, Kevental who did not understand. Bruto’s performance was saturated with complexities and intricacies, such as layered sound scores and several long periods of silence.

Fabian Gandini, the company’s artistic director discussed the piece’s exploration of technical elements, such as light (which made the audience feel like a deer in headlights) and the repetitive, minimalist structure of the piece (that vacillated between meditative and uncomfortable). While Kevental was not always easy to watch, it kept the audience’s attention and evoked a surge of strong feelings with its theatrics and imagery.

The ideas of non-gratification and the body as a machine were key inspirations for the choreography, producing mind-numbing, sterile movements that were interspersed with seductive sways in red lighting. Gandini also discussed the sense of waiting Kevental produced for the audience. Many tactics were used throughout the piece to prevent the audience from seeing everything that was happening and keep them expecting.