Citibank’s ATM westibule on Conn Ave and 18th turned out to be an extraordinary spot on Saturday at 11pm. Inside of the westibule a group of dancers, lead by Rob Bettman, performed an improv that both attracted and chased away passersby. “wtf’ and “i hope they had a lot to drink” were comments flying through the air.
To observe both the dance and people’s reactions were quite a trip. The fact that a bunch of reactions occured in the first place and that people who didn’t expect to catch a bit of modern dance on their way from Five to Dragonfly (two dc nightclubs) stopped by to pull out their cells to take photos, is a great achievement in itself.
It was also interesting to see a few classically trained dancers participate in the improv fest, even if there was a bit of a collision between the Forsythy type of movements and the contact stuff happening.
For me personally though, the most trippy thing was the fact that the ATM machine told me, litterally, while taking out cash, that “This is no ordinary ATM”.