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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1998

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Sara Krutwioh/The New York Times

1e different drums arid drummers of the ensemble known as Swarm, at the New Victory Theater. THEATER REVIEW

Belly Like BudcTha, Spine Like Dinosaur

By LAWRENCE VAN GELDER SWARM To the periodic table of entertainment elements that contains names like SPECTRE and M*A*S*IrI may now be added SWARM The initials stand for Symphonic Work Assembly of Rhythm and Movement, which has come thumping, twanging and twirllog out of Canada and into the New Victory Theater in the reborn Times Square for a stay through Feb. 22. In human form, Swarm consists of five trained and talented musicians, four men and a woman, literally heating their way through - and out of - commonly accepted expression. By the time their 90-minute show has ended, they have evoked the primitR'e, embodied the hip and reached out toward an almost extraterrestria avant-garde. All in all, Swarm proves to be a novel, lively curiosity. Because the ensemble's primary instruments are drums, Swarm's rhusic especially in the first half of the show - can tend toward the monotonous, despite the neatly synThe Symphonic Work Assembly of Rhythm and Movement, a Canadan-based percussion hand Co-founders, Gregory Kozak and Bill Wallace; director of art, Mr. Wallace; director of music and composer, Mr. Kozak; instrument designer, Mr. Wallace. Presented by the New 42d Street. At the New Victory Theater, 209 Vest 42d Street, Manhattan. WITH: Scott Bishop, Dave Hatfield, Gregory Kozak, Robin Reid and Bill Wallace.

chronized, highly energetic movements that send the players leaping, swaying and hopping while they perform, emitting an occasional yelp or chant and wheeling their drums around the stage. Like their players, outfitted in orange coveralls or overalls and adorned with beards, head wraps or knitted caps, the drums are off the no pun intended - regularly beaten path. Among others, there are the Buddha belly, a 95-pound wearable drum suit looking like armor and beaten by

the performer; tuned exhaust hoses, and a mandala drum with curved attachments. There is also an undulating marimba that looks from some angles like a section of dinosaur spine and ribs. In the second half of the show, the music becomes more complex and interesting. On the stage at the outset are the 24-foot-long string, a stainless steel nine-string instrument resembling a laser gun, played with rosincovered gloves; nearby is an instrument that looks like a lunar landetwith dish antennas, thin cables and struts. It can be bowed, plucked and thumped in conjunction with the long string. In this piece the performers are costumed like space travelers, and their music possesses an otherworldly quality. The innovative, inventive intellects and inexhaustible bodies behind Swarm are Scott Bishop, Dave Hatfield, Robin Reid and the ensemble's co-founders, Gregory Kozak and Bill Wallace.