FESTIVAL DANCE | Reviews
SEDIMENT Exceptional and absorbing circus two-hander ●●●●●
Performer David Carberry, whose credits include Circa and Casus, has cooked up and directed (with Chelsea McGuffin) this exceptionally engaging, absorbing and thematically elusive work. Inspiration comes from classic literature, but whether or not you’re familiar with Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground doesn’t matter. What counts is how well the small creative team, including fellow cast member Alice Muntz, have used that source material as a springboard.
This is circus based on character traits almost as much as
crowd-wowing skills. Carberry, handsome and limber, is an inarticulate and hyper-sensitive male. Muntz – rather unattainable, somewhat manipulative, incredibly lithe – is the woman in his orbit. Or vice-versa. The nimble pair meet, with him trying to infiltrate her hula hoop. Later she tries to speak but he, irritatingly, keeps interrupting her physically. They’re like each other’s obstacles. The tensions between them outweigh accord, and yet they can’t keep long apart. And their mutual sense of trust is quietly thrilling. He loops her round and round his body, and there’s a lovely sequence with them both balanced on their feet atop glass bottles. Another, darkly witty bit has Muntz seeking help after secreting herself inside a coffin-like box, like a woman ready to be sliced in half. Carberry slips some quotes from Dostoyevsky into the mix, while
both he and Muntz dabble at playing instruments without making a big deal of it. They also take physical risks. When Carberry flips backwards onto a trapeze, ending up hooked by his ankles, some members of the audience gasp. The show as a whole wears its intellectual pretensions lightly, which is likewise how the two performers deploy their talent. They make what they do matter. To quote the woman sitting next to me after it ended, ‘I don’t know what that was, but it was great.’ (Donald Hutera) ■ Assembly Roxy, until 27 Aug (not 8, 13, 20), 1.40pm, £13 (£11).
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BREAK FREE Champion Tokyo breakdancers showcase their skills ●●●●●
Six champion breakdancers, all with world titles, headspin, bodypop, windmill and do the worm in this afternoon dance show from Tokyo. The Wasabeats crew have been thrown in jail for breaking the ‘no dancing’ rule in this cop and robber tale, showcasing their impressive skills.
They pack a lot into an hour; crunchy robotics in time with a power drill, turning their bodies into a human Chesterfield chair, hopping on one hand like an upside- down Air Jordan logo and pulling tightly choreographed shapes like the Asian Backstreet Boys on fast forward. Their backflips and acrobatics are staggering, although their cartoon acting seems a bit pantomime and OTT sometimes; the storyline has no doubt been added to make it more family-friendly, but feels like gilding the lily when you have talents like these. (It’s advertised as suitable for five year plus, but there is the odd four-letter word in the soundtrack if that’s an issue.)
A dance battle in the middle gives each of the dancers their moment to shine, accompanied by beatboxing through a megaphone, and a live video feed of two dancing fingers in a tiny pair of hi-tops is a highlight. (Claire Sawers) ■ Underbelly Bristo Square, until 27 Aug (not 13), 4.35pm, £11–£12 (£10–£11).
70 THE LIST FESTIVAL 8–15 Aug 2018
GISELLE Classical ballet gets modern makeover ●●●●● WRoNGHEADED Poignant piece on women’s rights ●●●●●
Full-length classical ballets are hardly common on the Fringe, which lends Ballet Ireland’s update of this Gothic lynchpin of the Romantic era an immediate novelty factor. Acclaimed Irish choreographer Liz Roache premiered WRoNGHEADED in 2016, and following Ireland’s historic vote to repeal the 8th amendment, the work has only gained in resonance.
Choreographed by former Royal Ballet dancer Stephen Dodd’s lighting creates a claustrophobic
Ludovic Ondiviela, it’s a sleek little touring production even if some of the dramaturgy is questionable. The opening is neat yet weak, with our titular heroine (played by Ana Enriquez-Gonzalez, a fine dancer as well as a convincing corpse) blithely taken for a ride by Mario Gaglione’s two-timing Albrecht. Spoiler alert: Giselle kicks the bucket, but whether it’s because the poor girl’s ticker gave out (as tradition has it) or due to being knifed by her sweetie’s snooty fiancée Bathilde (Ryoko Yagyu, excellent) is a moot point. The show slips into act two’s realm of the dead via, we kid you not, a police procedural. More surprising, in the #MeToo era, is to not have the man bear as much of the blame for Giselle’s tragic early death as in the source work. Hilarion (Rodolfo Saralva), too, is treated with considerable sympathy. If the performance overall carries little emotional heft, those who rise from their grave – and that’s nearly the entire cast of ten – are effectively creepy. (Donald Hutera) ■ Dance Base, until 19 Aug (not 13), 8.45pm, £13 (£11).
twilight world, where two women struggle, stare, and wait. Their bodies are pictures of stifled anxiety, legs crossing and uncrossing, sometimes splayed wide, thrusting, remembering. Mary Wycherley’s prize-winning short film is
projected onto the floor of the space, creating an illusion of shifting ground. Elaine Feeney’s fierce poetry overlays to create an urgent accompaniment. It’s a vivid stream of consciousness which evokes the repression and helplessness experienced by women seeking an abortion.
Sarah Cerneaux and Justine Cooper are sublime dancers. At times they drift like sleepwalkers, reaching into empty space, yet always executing steps with clarity and precision. The combined effect is intense without hectoring. The elements of WRoNGHEADED are perfectly balanced, and the piece ends as the women embrace, a poignantly humane image for this timely work. (Alexandra Gray) ■ Dance Base, until 19 Aug (not 13), 1.30pm, £11 (£9).