Having too many ingredients can sometimes spoil the broth. Thankfully, La Fuerza Bruta is not at all like an overdone minestrone.

The Argentinian act recently opened in Manila Hotel and is part performance art, part gypsy trance, part circus and house party, but simply summed as spectacular. Here, there’s no delineation between stage and audience and you’re very much welcome to participate.

Oh Sinnerman... The opening act features a man drearily walking a treadmill

The show opens with a man trudging on a treadmill. Soon, you’ll discover that the treadmill is mounted on a mobile stage as floor directors ask the audience to part midway. The treadmill then goes up to hyper-speed and the protagonist (in his cream and white business suit) is forced to keep up, legs whirring almost like a roadrunner cartoon. Then a gunshot. A metaphor for the futility of life? Maybe.

What follows is a cosmic trip featuring two women suspended and cavorting atop pink foil lining the entire length of the tent. A dream sequence?

The audience ogles as a dancer swishes around in an overhanging pool

The protagonist returns on a treadmill, this time with friends who break out into a high-energy stomping and roundhouse-kick-filled dance number. I have two favorites in the hour-long show. One is when the protagonist is back on the treadmill, with chairs and tables that inevitably have to tumble off. A desperate need for security? And the other is the overhead pool sequence where scantily clad women make dolphin sounds, dive, stomp and entice you through the transparent plastic. The rest of the hour is filled up with smashing cardboards filled with tissue paper on top of people’s heads, house music and a good hosing of water from the DJ.

A smashing, high-energy act

According to director Diqui James, “We don’t want the audience to analyze, we want them to feel. The narrative of the show will be their personal journey.” I must have had something in my drink to be feeling so profound. Regardless, La Fuerza Bruta is one act you shouldn’t miss. It may not be a minestrone, but it’s definitely a sensorial cocktail. Oh, and come in flats, too. You’ll have a great time.

Waterworks as the DJ hoses down the audience at the end of the program

Tickets are available atwww.hoopla.ph, the Manila Hotel concierge, or through (02) 320-1111. Tickets may also be purchased online at the box office before the show. The show runs until March 26, 2012.