Lorna Irvine finds much to revel in this touring production from the acclaimed theatre-dance company.
In Jasmin Vardimon's world, the laws of the playground apply.
To a global jukebox, a graffiti artist (Esteban Fourmi) writes what could be an excuse, or suicide note, on a shadowy pavement, as a bag lady (Nevena Jovanovic) twirls past him, shedding clothes as she sneezes.
Then, one by one, the area's miscreants burst to life. Dances break out in people like viruses, as tough as concrete. Rough-hewn hip-hop moves are combined with the sensuality of Brazilian dance, and the disparate personalities clash in a small microcosm of society.
Vardimon's dancers are feral, raunchy and playful, whether hurtling full-tilt to the ground or towards each other, so that there's a sense of tension throughout, and relief when they get through each scene.
There is no straightforward narrative, more a heightened voyeurism, as the characters flirt, fight and fornicate-- when not emulating saucy mermaids (Silke Muys) or rabid dogs (Uros Petronijevic). Ensemble work is particularly breathtaking, especially when transitioning from frantic to graceful, as with the routine to Senor Coconut's lounge cover of Kraftwerk's 'Neon Lights'--just gorgeous.
The mercurial shifts occasionally feel a little forced, and some of the humour the wrong side of wacky, but eventually it all finds a steady rhythm, becoming somewhere, just outside of reality, worth visiting. You couldn't live there though--it would be too much for the old ticker. Not to mention uptight property developers.
www.jasminvardimon.com
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