Morceaux Choisis & Ragnarök

Inventive choreography grows to a crescendo of movement and cleverly constructed mime

★★★
archive review (edinburgh) | Read in About 2 minutes
Published 07 Aug 2007
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115270 original

Six dancers get off to a shaky start as they take to the floor, presenting the first piece, Morceaux Choisis. Although the dancers are not always impeccable with their timing during the group choreography, their dancing is fluid and watchable.

In this first piece, the choreography is reminiscent of Fosse, with the emphasis on the movement of fingers, hands and heads through use of repeated sequences. The attention of the audience is immediately drawn to dancer Claire Benson, who performs with every inch of her body and stands out from the rest of the somewhat expressionless troupe with her electric dancing.

A large white screen is later brought on to fill the stage and the dynamics of the music change. The inventive choreography synchronises the dancers with the shifting shadows. The audience are lost in a furore of movement and cleverly constructed mime. The dancing grows to a crescendo and ends, leaving the audience eagerly anticipating the next piece.

A more powerful and confident start to Ragnarok suggests that the dancers have settled into the space and the performance. The dancing really comes alive and the connection between the six performers is intense. Limbs cut through the air with great force as the performers flitter on and off stage with smooth and graceful transitions. The breathtaking end is so strong that even the shrill ring of a mobile phone could not take away from the quality and impact of this piece.