Into the Fog

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This obscure piece of dance/physical theatre is supposedly inspired by Russian folk tale Hedgehog in the Fog—made into an animated film in 1975—and centres on a community reuniting once a millennium to tell a story. You’ll have to take my word for it, because there’s little in this odd, if visually pleasing, production to indicate any kind of story at all.

The five performers from Los Angeles-based CalArts certainly put their all into it. Barefoot, in vaguely period costumes, they wordlessly inhabit the stage, seguing from slow, dreamlike sequences to manic, breathless leaping, creating sound effects as they go. Books are made to flap like birds, before being ripped apart in a furious orgy, pages left scattered about the stage like dead leaves. There’s a lot of staring into the distance, some inventive use of talcum powder—to portray fog presumably—and, at one point, a very good horse impression. It’s beautifully lit, too; greens and blues and pure white lending the piece an ethereal feel.

But it’s all just rather bizarre and impenetrable. As a piece of dance it’s pleasant to look at, but a little meaning wouldn’t go astray. At just 45 minutes, it’s perfectly diverting, and the young cast should be commended for their enthusiasm and physical inhibition, but it’s just too inscrutable to be enjoyable on more than a superficial level. And there’s no sign of a hedgehog whatsoever.