DANCE SCENE
Trio turns secondhand discards into first-rate, entertaining shtick

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor

The Second Hand — from left, Paul Gordon, Greg O'Brien and Andy Horowitz — brings its unusual combination of dance and props to the Islands in a series of shows and workshops. 'The Second Hand' 7:30 p.m. today, University of Hawai'i-Hilo Theatre; $16 general, $14 youths/seniors, $10 children 12 and younger, $5 UHH/Hawai'i Community College students with ID. (808) 974-7310. 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, Leeward Community College Theatre; $25 general, $20 advance; $15 students; 956-6878. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Brigham Young University-Hawai'i at La'ie; $15 general, $12 military and seniors, $9 BYUH faculty/staff, $5 for kids 5-17, free for BYUH students. 293-3577, 293-3545. Also: Workshop 6-8 p.m. Monday, UH-Manoa Dance Building; $25; 956-2036; lecture-demonstration, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Wed-nesday, Salt Lake-Moanalua Library; free; 831-6831.

They have so much daffy fun creating what they put on stage, it's hard to call what they do work.

"We're basically dancers, who did different things, and we pushed it, pushed it, and pushed it ... till we made it all fun," said Andy Horowitz, one of the founding members of the troupe, in town for a statewide performance and lecture-workshop tour, beginning tonight in Hilo.

With Greg O'Brien and Paul Gordon, Horowitz formed The Second Hand in 1987 in New York.

"We had these new ideas, started playing games, using strange props," Horowitz said. "Our rehearsals were crazy."

Essentially, what may seem absurd in a concert likely is a shtick that has undergone hours of playful experimentation and scrutiny.

"It's pure collaboration, and haphazard sometimes," he said.

Years ago, when the group was still in the formative stage, the guys — so fresh, new and nameless — decided The Second Hand would be their calling card, inasmuch as a lot of what they do out on stage are second-hand discards.

"We would find fabric, wood, scraps of this and that, and rebuild the stuff out of Dumpsters," Horowitz said. "So The Second Hand seemed to be the right label at that moment."

Airline security personnel have had chuckles galore with the myriad of curiosities in the group's bag of surprises: shoes with strange wooden heels, Velcro hats and balls, jeans with zippered seams on the side.

Where they depart from traditional choreographed "dance" concerts is that The Second Hand breaks down the fourth wall; members talk to the audience, occasionally inviting audience participation.

The group always numbers three, with alternates filling in when one of the originals can't be on stage. Like when wives were having babies.

"And, occasionally, injuries happen," Horowitz said.

How to tell them apart?

"Greg has no hair, I have long hair, Paul has thick, black, short hair," Horowitz said.