Synopsis
Programme
Impressions/Performances
Companhia de Danca is an international class South American dance troupe led by one of the World's most successful female choreographers. This touring production, 'Cruel,' is modern, sexy and innovative as it explores the fine line between pleasure and pain, celebrating love whilst hinting at the vicious selfishness and manipulative egotism that sometimes hides behind it.
The first act opens in a ballroom where a number of couples are dancing romantically to a Vivaldi waltz under a giant globe and at first everything seems joyfully perfect. Then a singelton appears - without a partner she dances among the couples occasionally trying to break in, playful and comical but ultimately conveying the heartfelt longing of an outsider wishing to share in the happiness. Gradually the action shifts in intensity and the mood becomes more solemn as the partnerships appear to become less perfect. A huge mobile table then appears which becomes the centrepiece of the ongoing action, mixing moments of familial intimacy with drifting apart and seeming rejection. The mood shift grows increasingly darker so that the table, initially a gathering point for the performers, becomes a barrier seperating them. Eventually it ends in isolation with thrown knives embedded in the table.
But if the first act is good, the shorter second act is even better. Here the action is centred around four large revolving mirrors, each with a circular porthole opening in the centre. These are distributed around the stage in changing configurations, sometimes in line, sometimes opposing, as the dancers weave around and between them, stepping through the frames in time with the spin, and climbing over and through the mirrors themselves. This leads to some intriguingly beautiful, and oftentimes quite surreal, effects between the dancers and their reflections - like when one girl leans over the top of one mirror lazily waving what appear to be four arms. On other occasions the girls extend only their legs through the openings which are then caught in the reflections, and in another sequence a male dancer hangs off the front of one mirror whilst pulling his partner through - again all duplicated by the reflection. It's all very fascinating, and surprisingly easy to loose track of whether your gaze, at any given moment, is fixed upon a dancer or his/her reflection!
The style of dancing ranges from a balletic form of ballroom to an infusion of gymnastics and stylised modern dance, and includes one girl who struts through the evening on pointe. Whatever the syle, all of this talented troupe of dancers move with cat-like grace, athleticism and enormity of precision - never a foot straying out of place. The action throughout is designed not to convey a story but an emotion, or rather a progression of emotion - in this case what takes it's place when love begins to fade - and whilst the progression is at times somewhat uneven, overall acheives it's aim admirably.
Verdict
Vibrant, intoxicating and visually stunning. An exquisite blend of passion and performance.
Don Gillan - www.stagebeauty.net