list.co.uk/festival Reviews | FESTIVAL DANCE
LAST CLOWN ON EARTH Obscure but heartfelt meditation ●●●●●
ACÉLÉRÉ BY CIRCOLOMBIA Adrenaline-fuelled, heart-in-mouth fun ●●●●● TAIWAN SEASON: 038 Tight choreography from Taiwan ●●●●●
Anton Adasinsky’s distinctive style is probably not for those who believe a clown is there to entertain them. His company, Derevo, has developed a practice of pushing images towards the limits of comfort and absurdity, and – as in the course of all experimental art – there are times when it works better than others. Last Clown on Earth is a solo show for Adasinsky,
set in a post-apocalyptic landscape, overlapping and snapping through images of destruction, religion, damnation, and regeneration. He starts this endgame as a tramp, tipping the filthy spoils of his bag over the audience – note: don’t wear your good clothes.
He has a go at recreating the Garden of Eden;
in the guise of an old Greek man he delivers a monologue on death from a toy Ferrari. He tries to stage a metaphor for his own death, then a funeral complete with bunting and audience-wailing. It’s more of a hotchpotch than some of Derevo’s
previous work, but the gleam of Adasinsky’s physical talent, and the force of his own conviction in his ideas, mean that underneath its obscure and alienating layers there is still a grimy heart that keeps Last Clown on Earth pulsing along. (Lucy Ribchester) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 28 Aug (not 21), 5.40pm, £10–£13 (£9–£12).
When the circus comes to town, it usually brings a twist with it. Maybe it’s lots of water, freakishly flexible children, Shaolin warriors or stunts with motorbikes. Acéléré, a ‘circus concert’ from the Circolombia troupe, has been given a Latino spin. A fierce female ringmaster raps in Spanish and English to warm up the crowd, before the stunts begin. Many of the performers here trained at the National
School of Circo Para Todos in Colombia, a school that supports underprivileged young people. There are weightless gymnasts flying through space; extreme swinging action way up high; a solid muscleman balancing a bendy girl in a rotating hoop on his forehead, and aerial acrobats gracefully hanging upside down by ropes held in their teeth (there are loud gasps for the last pair, possibly from any dentists or chiropractors in the crowd). It’s all soundtracked by boomy drum & bass, hip hop and reggaeton, with the artists taking turns to throw shapes in between routines. When the show’s over, the audience pour onto the stage for a South American dance party. Fearless fun with no safety nets or subtitles, just a lot of adrenaline and heart-in- mouth moments. (Claire Sawers) ■ Underbelly Circus Hub, until 26 Aug (not 21), 9.15pm, £17.50–£19.50 (£16.50–£18.50).
At the end of 038, when the female dancers are taking a bow and getting a very warm reaction from the crowd, one of them blinks back tears. No one has revealed any emotion on their face during the 40-minute performance, so the human chink in the armour is an accidentally touching ending.
The title is the phone code for Hualien on Taiwan’s east coast. It’s home to the Amis aboriginal people, including the show’s director, Kuo-Shin Chuang, who studies and teaches traditional Taiwanese dance. The nine dancers have trained with Chuang since they were children, and inspired the choreography. Most of the dancers live in cities now, but are pulled back towards Hualien to rehearse every month. There’s an angsty tension throughout, where
twitchy moves give way to softer shapes near the end. The anonymity and pace of the city is portrayed with robotic tiny steps, and exhausted movements in rows and lines. As images of Taiwan’s mountains and sounds of lapping water bleed in, the marching slows, and the dancers link arms, eyes still staring out. The tight formations and mechanical choreography that preceded it making the homecoming payoff feel even more welcome. (Claire Sawers) ■ Dance Base, until 27 Aug (not 21), 3.15pm, £10–£12 (£8–£10).
CIRCUS ABYSSINIA: ETHIOPIAN DREAMS Impressive East African twist on the circus format ●●●●●
Ezera Nigusse and AlemaYehu Mulugeta are the babies of the bunch here, playing the brothers Bibi and Bichu at the centre of this African circus show. Inspired by the real-life Tesfamariam brothers, who are a pair of street performers who dreamt of running away with the circus back in the 90s, before Ethiopia even had a circus tradition, Bibi and Bichu’s story mirrors their own. Now they juggle in the show they created, alongside performers from Addis Ababa’s Konjowoch Troupe circus school. Obviously a hothouse for mesmerisingly good acrobats, the troupe is trained by former Ethiopian gymnast coach, Solomon Tadese, which explains their unique style of graceful contortion and strength.
After what seems like an unnecessary introduction by a posh white Man in the Moon, the cast start arriving while Arabic music plays behind them. Two female acrobats in snake bodysocks slither on stage, interlocking their leotarded limbs in an amazing liquid routine, as if practising a kind of effortless extreme yoga. Later they’re joined by two other dancers to stack a human tower of core strength, elastic spines and rubbery neck muscles. The handvaulting sequences are hypnotic, there are no safety nets, just bodies being pinged and flung through the air with split-second precision like it’s no big deal. It obviously wouldn’t work without trust and lots of training, and both shine through.
It’s a warm show where the performers, particularly Nigusse and Mulugeta, can’t stop grinning as the crowd shows their appreciation. An energetic finale sees the male acrobats catapulting themselves around two Chinese poles, then screeching down them, using their skinny jeans as brakes. Impressive and good fun, this East African twist on the well-known circus format gets two thumbs up. (Claire Sawers) ■ Underbelly Circus Hub, until 26 Aug (not 21), 3pm, £13.50–£15.50 (£12.50–£14.50).
17–28 Aug 2017 THE LIST FESTIVAL 61