mixed metaphor part II

Stuart Partridge

Mixed Metaphor Part II
Significant Others Nicky Smith
Tall Stephanie Glickman and Trish Anderson
Go! Bird On A Wire

Three visually rich and energy-intensive performances which took place at Dancehouse one weekend in July.

Nicky Smith's Significant Others was a meditation on the theme of difference. Her four dancers all exemplified some kind of 'type'; each was possessed of a racial or physical or movement-oriented different-ness. The interplay of the two couples, their movement and the context for it, became a thoughtful exploration of one against or with another.

The similarities between the two couples used were obvious to see; the inter-racial nature of the relationships, the male/female dynamic played out in movement. Beyond this, though, a definite departure took place. Whether by design or a side-effect of such an improvisational basis in its construction, the piece highlighted two very different aspects to relationality.

The first couples' movements, couched as they were in the martial arts and balletic values of the performers, were stylised, lean and densely choreographed. The setting was saturated blue/white light with heavy use made of the surrounding darkness. Compounding this was the cool detachment radiated by the dancers, making the experience one of viewing technical if somewhat passionless precision rather than engagement on behalf of the performers. Conversely, the movement of the second pair of dancers was warm and involved. They made a conscious effort to appear to be enjoying themselves, smiling and touching and involving eachother in an obvious way, moving through the intimacy of a first touch, a caress, and finally bathing together in a tub at the back of the stage. Though only a pretence (since these are performers and not, we imagine, actual lovers), their engagement felt more meaningful than the calculated distance we sensed between the first two dancers. The effect of contrasting these two types of relationship against eachother made for thoughtful and emotionally engaging viewing.

The second piece, Tall, was a confronting and powerful performance. Beyond the ideas contained within the premise - a response to the desire to be tall, to break free of the natural constraints of the body - is the sense of awe we experience in seeing a performer throw themselves so dynamically around the stage for such a long period of time. The feats of strength and physical prowess displayed by Stephanie Glickman are jolting in their athleticism. Though the performance felt somewhat overlong, the sheer effort made by the performer is unquestionably impressive.

The strongest performance of the night to my mind was Go!, by Bird On A Wire. This piece, born as it was of improvisational movement sessions and an obviously involved workshop process within the group, travelled through a rich terrain of proposed situations and connections between people. It opened strongly with a series of short vignettes, narrative-less and surreal instances where the performers enacted a series of semi-automated movements, individually and in couples, each lit suddenly by overhead spotlights. The effect was as if we were seeing bizarre snapshots from a robot test lab. This section warmed the audience considerably, and segued into a more reflective and involved series of interactions between members in the group, the scenes all building in energy and momentum, culminating at one point in fast and vigorous action, the performers launching off eachother and up onto the walls, running in a great circle around the room.

This performance contained the seeds of something that is bound in time to be very, very good indeed. Go!, though quite developed by presentation time at Mixed Metaphor, could be polished and evolved further to make a still stronger impression. I have no doubt in time it could become an even more engaging, funny and resonant viewing experience.


vol 6 ed 1 - ed 2 - ed 3&4 - 2003
vol 5 ed 1 - ed 2 - ed 3 - ed 4 - 2002
vol 4 ed 1 - ed 2 - ed 3 - ed 4 - 2001
vol 3 ed 1 - ed 2 - ed 3 - ed 4 - 2000
vol 2 ed 1 - ed 2 - ed 3 - ed 4 - 1999
vol 1 ed 1 - ed 2 - ed 3 - ed 4 - 1998

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