Are You Okay — a dance/ theater piece in Hip Hop/street style dance created by Anthony Bounphakhom
Location: The Rex Theater, Manchester, New Hampshire
Date: 12/7/2022

This performance asked the pertinent question of our tumultuous time: Are you okay?In a noisy, hyper connected world in which a pandemic, political tensions at home, and geopolitical tensions abroad have created existential angst, our mental health has been strained to the breaking point. Bounphakhom’s performance portrayed this angst through the lives of several recognizable, archetypical characters. Threaded throughout the narrative, the central theme is accepting the dark side of one’s inner weather in order to find healing.

The nature of Are You Okay was an unapologetically emotional portrayal of the anxiety and trauma that seem ubiquitous in our time, which is made worse by holding those emotions tight. Bounphakhom was able to draw out raw and honest performances from his cast, who embodied and presented a clarity of the human body that spoke truths beyond words.

Audience members reported that the expressive physicality of dance helped to create a visceral connection to the deeply felt emotions passionately portrayed by the dancers. Without language, which can confuse the authenticity of the felt sense(s) that dance provides, the audience could feel more and think less.