REVIEWS

** 1/2 “Troy Game”

Home Vision. $39.95. Information: (800) 323-4222.

If you’ve seen Dance Theatre of Harlem blaze through Robert North’s “Troy Game,” you won’t be satisfied with this cautious, subdued interpretation by London Contemporary Dance Theatre. Yes, North did choreograph his one-act male showpiece for LCDT in 1973, but this performance (shot 10 years later at Sadlers Wells Theatre) never matches the heat and sass that the Harlem forces bring to North’s gladiatorial training exercises and locker-room escapades. Moreover, the fiery capoeira sequences in “Oba, Oba” now make North’s stylization of Afro-Brazilian combat dancing look awfully bloodless. Interview footage and company class complete the 39-minute program--that’s a dollar a minute. Videos are rated on a scale of one star (a loser) to five stars (a classic).