Review: The Spinners

The three Fates spin out human lives through exciting dance theatre that transforms them into a captivating, non-human goddess machine. Australian choreographer Lina Limosani and Scottish physical theatre icon Al Seed have teamed up to create this mysterious and gripping show, in which Limosani also performs alongside Tara Jade Samaya and Kialea-Nadine Williams. Between them, they provide a welcome picture of diverse representation for the endless human lives they control, while their unity—in hypnotically intertwined patterns of hands and heads—is impeccable.

The detailed choreography includes storytelling sequences that measure life and death—played out through the expansive cats-cradle creation of small string dolls that line the walls of their eyrie—and intricate motifs of martial and insectile movements. Once the ritual is set, disruption ensues, and it's admirable how drama is injected without ever disrupting the conceit of unchanging fate. Originating in Greek myth, other versions of these three women who control our destiny have appeared through various cultural periods and these other representations are also suggested through choreographic choices. 

Lighting design from Chris Petridis fortifies Wendy Todd's strong design concept, and further suggests an unknown power that even these three are answerable to. From the initial sounds of metallic and earthy tones that weave together throughout Guy Veale's original soundtrack, the complex mechanics of natural process are beautifully spun out. The explicit purpose of some movements is oblique, but who are we to seek to understand the Fates? The Spinners is a timeless methaphor that raises unanswerable questions of freewill and determinism.