Gareth K Vile gives his views on Janis Claxton's Humanimalia.
After over two years of research, and a series of pieces that used primate gesture and behaviour as a foundation for choreography, JanisClaxton’s Humanimalia is an ambitious introduction to a deep creative and intellectual process. Earlier iterations of the idea that lurks behind this hour-long work owed as much to Live Art as dance – Enclosure 44 encased the performaners in Edinburgh Zoo for a fortnight, and Human Animal was adurational invasion of public space – and although Humanimalia is firmly located in the theatre, it still holds traces of the previous investigations,especially in the sheer number of possibilities explored. Yet the more obviously choreographic approach yields advantages, not least in the application of primate gesture to the techniques of the skilled cast of five.
Rightly avoiding mere imitation of primate behaviour –the movements are based on observation of bonobos, chimpanzees, orang-utans and gorillas – Claxton concentrates on group organisation. Each of the dancers has a distinct personality, and their conflicts, alliances and resolutions are recognisable as human behaviour. Claxton’s own role, analpha, reflects her role in the creative process, yet every dancer has a clear identity and purpose. Playing out the jostling for position, the bullying and anxiety of the characters, Humanimalia abstracts the underlying relationships of homo sapiens, while asserting their connection to the other Great Apes.
Grand concepts flicker past: the reversal of audience and performers through use of live video, the need for a group to ensure certain roles are taken, the arrogance of humans in thinking themselves above their genetic relatives: more formally, Claxton questions the necessity of a specific dance system as a foundation for choreography, creating her own and linking it to her already trained company. The soundscape loiters between fragments of children watching animals, dense electronic music and fragments of zoological discussion, and Paul Sorley’s excellently moody lighting – shown to stunning effect against Tramway’s Brook Wall – enhance the atmosphere.Combining media in the best ballet tradition, Humanimalia is a sensitive engagement with research into nature and suggestive of the bleak urges lingering behind our apparently civilised society.
The moments of Live Art – such as the ritualistic covering of a naked body in strips of what seems to be bacon – are at odds with the lyricism of the last solo and the lithe athleticism of the play with a pair of Perspex cages and the challenge to the status of the audience is perhaps the least interesting idea on display: Claxton is exploring new paths for choreography, and forging a style unmistakeably her own.
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