FESTIVAL DANCE | Reviews
4X4 EPHEMERAL ARCHITECTURES ●●●●● An alchemy of impish fun and perfect beauty
It’s not the first time ballet and juggling have been paired at the Fringe – 2013’s Tangram saw the disciplines turned into a tender duet by a husband and wife.
But director Sean Gandini and choreographer Ludovic Ondiviela know
the value of numbers when creating spectacle, and here the virtuoso cast of eight (four jugglers, four ballet dancers) creates a human kaleidoscope of quick-moving beauty, all set to Nimrod Borenstein’s original score. It would be enough to see the electrons of juggling patterns fizzing against the dancers’ clean lines, or even to gape at the timing that allows the ballet to weave in and around flying hoops, skittles and balls. But this is Gandini Juggling, of smash-hit Smashed, here, and the same puckish spirit of that teacup-worrying Pina Bausch-inspired show is embedded firmly in 4x4.
In interludes between meditative, lyrical movements – playing with ideas of codes and equations – we have good-cop-bad-cop dancers who try to distract a solo juggler, then golf clap him when he gets it right, and ballerinas who cackle like monkeys when you least expect it. Randomness always tickles against the order imposed by the company’s immaculate choreography. There is no reason for the word ‘whee’ to be funny, but when it escapes a ballerina’s mouth mid-lift, it just is. In a way it’s hard to know how to take 4x4. It lies ambiguously between seriously finessed execution and sending up seriousness in art. But that is also perhaps at the heart of its beauty. Or perhaps it’s best not to think too hard about it. Playfully, the cast deconstructs the piece towards the end, even offering up some suggestions for finales with handy pre-made reviews. ‘Wonderful’ says Owen Reynolds of his high-concept plans. ‘Marvellous.’
We laugh, but actually it’s a fair way to describe this show. (Lucy Ribchester) ■ Assembly George Square Theatre, 623 3030, until 30 Aug (not 12, 18, 25), 5.30pm, £14–£16 (£12–£14).
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YERMA ●●●●● Powerful, kathak dance take on a Spanish classic ONE FINE DAY ●●●●● Fine double-bill of dance from Korea's EDx2
SMOTHER ●●●●● Same-sex couples filtered through hip hop lens
Set in rural patriarchal Spain, Federico Garcia Lorca’s 1934 play Yerma is about the tragic consequences of being a woman locked in a childless marriage. The classical Indian dancer- choreographer Amina Khayyam has universalised the source material to take on board female oppression in a broader sense. The result is sharply stylised, exceptionally economical and relevant dance-theatre with the petite, big-eyed Khayyam herself fragile and fierce in the title role. This impressive piece is presented as a moody, fine-cut ritual graced with a pulse-quickening live score. The dancers Lucy Teed and Jane Chan, their faces painted half white and half brown, neatly embody male and female subsidiary characters comprising the social order into which the increasingly desperate Yerma does not fit. All of kathak’s hallmarks – whirlwind spins punctuated by little jumps, twists of the torso, stamping feet, eloquent gestures and facial expression – are present and accounted for, but put to the service of subtle yet strong storytelling without a trace of sentimentality. Dramatically alert, thematically rich and ultimately moving. (Donald Hutera) ■ New Town Theatre, 220 0143, until 30 Aug (not 18, 25), 2pm, £10 (£8).
62 THE LIST FESTIVAL 13–20 Aug 2015
Sometimes titles can be either deceptive or lost in translation. The bland signal sent out by One Fine Day doesn’t do justice to this accomplished double- bill from acclaimed Korean dance company EDx2.
Modern Feeling sees two men test the boundaries of physical companionship through intimacy, combat and those tiny little taps and prods that form so much of everyday interaction. In-soo Lee and Kyum Ahn are at their best when in quickfire mode – the show-stealer here is a mercurial passage of mind-bending precision, the men locked to each other through the arms like a metal puzzle, and moving so fluidly the eyes can barely keep up.
Ensemble piece What We’ve Lost shifts into
more whimsical territory. As the dancers enter, they search and pat themselves, looking for that elusive titular object. It’s never revealed what that is, but it can be whisked or heaved between the company, its weight and substance taking on different significance as it arrives at each player. The dance is brought off with dizzying energy and guts, but some segments resonate more than others, and a series of false endings suggests that perhaps the piece might in parts, be a little lost itself. (Lucy Ribchester) ■ Assembly Hall, 623 3030, until 31 Aug (not 17, 24), noon, £12–£14 (£11–£13).
The seven switched-on members of contemporary hip hop company 201 Dance bring plenty of kinetic attack to this slick and slender, yet sincere hour of mainly swift, occasionally tender semi-narrative dance. The piece charts the developments of two same-sex relationships. This is irregular emotional terrain for mainstream hip hop culture to be exploring, so credit to choreographer Andrea Walker for giving it some consideration.
Dramatic intention sits fairly well upon the
shoulders of a young cast, including Walker, who appear to be ardent about the somewhat hedonistic rhythms of desire. They start out as coke-snorting party animals who look like they’d be most at home in a pop video. Gradually boy meets boy, with one being especially drug-oriented, and girl meets girl, only in a softer matter. The latter duo doesn’t follow much of a dramatic arc, but their behaviour is more recognisably human and even ordinary than their rather hard-driven male counterparts. If ultimately it feels as if there simply isn’t enough of the incisive emotional pay-off this production is meant to generate, Walker nonetheless evidences a facility for fashioning ensemble movement. (Donald Hutera) ■ ZOO, 662 6892, until 22 Aug, 6.40pm, £11 (£10).