mrthorley.com Swan Song
Fusion Dance Entangled
Archana Ballal The Line of Desire
Tango and Vivaldi might on the surface appear unlikely bedfellows. But as Amir Giles and Tara Pilbrow smouldered through a selection of baroque flicks in the aptly-titled duet Entangled, they looked like a marriage made in heaven.
Giles and Pilbrow trade under the name of Fusion Dance and for once here was a company name which made perfect sense. Perfectly in tune with each other, emotionally and physically, the dancers skilfully sketched the story of an amorous encounter from chance flirtation to melancholy afterglow. But it wasn't just the bodies that were expressive, Entangled seduced with facial expressions too, Pilbrow in particular proving a luminous presence. Though the attention strayed slightly when the tango gave way to contemporary stylings, Entangled couldn't help but get under your skin: we didn't know where the dancers ended and the lovers began.
It's a brave soul who takes a stab at re-inventing Swan Lake - surely there are only so many ways to skin a cygnet - so it's a feather in Ivan Thorley's cap that, at the very least, Swan Song offered something different. Quite what that was proved hard to define as, played out over Tchaikovsky's immortal riffs, Thorley alternately took to the stage as grumpy gremlin (in nasty big underpants) and feather-stuffed unicorn, the action punctuated by an anonymous woman with dustpan and brush. Odd, and darkly endearing, Thorley's Swan Song was as impenetrable as a half-remembered dream.
Setting out to explore the spectrum of desire, from passing fancy to aggressive greed, Archana Ballal gave herself a stiff task with The Line of Desire. In practice her choreography, which fused classical Indian dance with contemporary techniques, worked better as a technical exercise in assimilating disparate influences than it did on an emotional level. Ballal and her two dancers wove polite and pretty patterns on the stage but desire never caught fire.
Keith Watson
Dance always promises to be unpredictable, but last night's Swan Song truly was. In the most unique ode to Swan Lake that I've seen, the swan turned out to be a unicorn, who eventually came to his demise by having the feathers literally pulled out of him. Ivan Thorley's duckling was almost doe-like in his innocence and grace, rivalling the exquisite Odile. Cohesive ideas, constant surprises and good humour kept this piece together, and the audience eagerly awaited every twist.
The aptly-named Entangled was a sexy tangle of legs and desire that successfully blended tango and contemporary dance. Dancers/choreographers Amir Giles and Tara Pilbrow were a pleasure to watch, with the expressive upper body and precise footwork needed for tango. They began as strangers, dancing while wearing masks that rendered them expressionless. When they met properly for the first time, the dance became fun and flirtatious, and reminded me of a joyful Gene Kelly. The third section was solid in technique and ability, but lacked the connection between the dancers that is the essence of tango, and needed more electricity. However, the final section smouldered and brought the work to a satisfying conclusion.
In The Line of Desire, movement snaked, stretched and surprised, with gesture influenced by Indian dance that added richness to the work. The dancers connected incredibly well to the movement and each other, which happens all too rarely. A duet between Archana Ballal and Carl Pattrick was not so much a dance as a conversation. Later, Ballal and Shamita Ray danced playfully: two people interacting instead of just giving learned movement. Composer Marc David's music was perfectly suited, and carried the piece along its increasingly intense journey. It is difficult to find abstract dance that brings along a human quality, but Ballal did it. I could have seen more.
Jobina Bardai
mrthorley.com, Swan Song
Fusion Dance, Entangled, photo by Mikah Smillie
Archana Ballal, The Line of Desire