An unexpected text message invite
led to one of the most interesting and creative performances I’ve seen all
year. Dance City hosted Compagnie T’d-U, an internationally renowned dance
company and their physical theatre/dance piece on relationships and the patterns
we can find ourselves in, the said and unsaid and the importance of expression
in our closest relationships.
We are introduced to two female
characters (Zuzana Kakalikova and Gema Galiana) and two males (Guillaumarc Froidevaux
and writer Anthony Nikolchev), and gradually realise that they are playing one
couple, which each character split in two both mirroring and acting
independently of each other. This device
also helps with the repetition that is key to the story – both female
characters can repeat their growing frustrations, both males can respond with
more gusto. They accurately depict the daily routine of a couple through
movement - sleeping, arguing over breakfast and doing the laundry - the
mundanities of relationships. The wooden
table which is spun around, sat upon and covered in coffee stains is akin to a
casket, an empty box representing what can happen to a relationship.
Not far into the piece, I
wondered silently how dancers could be such good actors, as there was a lot of
dialogue for a dance performance. I only found out afterwards that they weren’t
trained dancers. These guys can do it all. The movement and transitions are stunning,
choreographed by Vivien Wood, an international performer and choreographer who
wowed audiences with Exile last year. Some of the lifts are highly technical and
romantic, it’s not all doom and gloom. The dancing reminds us that there is
still passion, even in the middle of the incessant nit picking and game playing.
With a powerful and resonating
text written by Anthony Nikolchev which can be both devastating and laugh out
loud funny in a heartbeat, many of the monologues and exchanges will be
familiar to any audience member that has felt frustration in a relationship.
Gema Galiana’s inappropriate reaction to her male counterpart(s) at one point was
brilliant, showing how we can’t always be expected to react appropriately. Some
of the text where one half of a couple wants the other half to be impressed
with them hits home too. It certainly is complicated.
I loved the international aspect
to the production, as the performers hail from the USA, Spain, Switzerland and
Bratislava. Foreign language is well used in some places to express anger. Kakalikova
and Froidevaux created Compagnie T’d-U, and all the performers are part of
Wroclaw’s Studio Matejka, where they do research into physical expression. It
shows. Watching their Youtube videos is like witnessing a creative explosion on
your screen.
The music perfectly fitted the mood,
with the main contributors being Bach and modern jazz. Guillaumarc created an
analog loop as one of the larger pieces of music involved which was blended
with the Northern Sinfonia Principal Violinist Bradley Creswick’s interpretation
of Bach’s Musical Offering. This piece can be played both forwards and
backwards in both directions, which fits with the sense that the two characters
see the same event from dramatically different perspectives.
The first thing my friend said to
me at the end was that she wanted a certain person to watch it again with her.
I got the feeling that this was someone that she had experienced these repeated
patterns with. She wasn’t alone in that. I half laughed at the irony that by
doing that she would avoid saying what was difficult to say. Very powerful
stuff.
Future shows
Friday 11th July, Caedmon Hall, Central Library, Gateshead 7.30pm Tickets £8/£6 (conc) www.gateshead.gov.uk/whatson
For more information on Dance City please visit www.dancecity.co.uk/
For more information on Dance City please visit www.dancecity.co.uk/
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