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Theatre listings >
Off Kilter.
Choreographers - Kally Lloyd-Jones, Raymond Kaye, Frank
McConnell, Steinvor Palsson, Caroline Reagh, Janet Smith, Priya
Sreekumar.
Musical Director - John Rae.
Video Artist - John McGeoch.
Costume Designer - Phyllis Byrne.
Lighting Designer - Jeanine Davies.
Company - Programme organised by Dancebase The Scotish Centre
for Dance. Artistic Director - Morag Deyes..
Dancers - here .
Venue - D Theatre .
Dates - P
not Sun or Mons
Matinees at pm
Tour Dates and Times - here
.
Seen to review at .
Run Time - hours mins including 15 mins interval no Interval .
Reviewer - Ksenija Horvat
Good night's entertainment but....
There is no doubt about it, Off Kilter was a good night's entertainment
for Edinburgh’s punters with the taste for good aul' Scottish dancing.
The entire night's performance has been centred around the Scottish theme,
with the purpose of creating a body of new, innovative dance work that
would be representative of current developments on the Scottish dance
scene.
A brave and valiant attempt indeed, except that it was not long before
it descended into a curious hodgepodge of choreographic routines and rhythms
without any substantial ideological or artistic vision. The choreography
was clever indeed in most cases, but the individual pieces rarely succeeded
to involve one's imagination, and as a whole, they made up a pastiche
rather than a representation of multitudes of cultures and perspectives
that are contemporary Scotland.
What was lacking from the presentations on offer was the feeling that
these artists were challenging the current trends and breaking the boundaries.
Only two pieces came close to such a concept. Raymond Kaye's choreography
of Bide a Wiver O in superb performances by Tara Hodgson and Vincent
Hantam resonated the hardships and nostalgia of old fishermen's communities,
a taste of genuine Scotland of the past that has been overrun by multinational
companies. The piece was written and performed by Sheena Wellington whose
name curiously did not appear on the subsequent programme bill, and who
is one of the true stars in the varied sky of Scottish folk music.
The second piece that made the last night’s event worth seeing was
Smalls Street, choreographed by Janet Smith ( Artistic Director
of the Scottish Dance Theatre) based on Charles Dumont et al’s
Nae Regrets (taken from Martyn Bennett’s album Grit). At present,
Martyn Bennett’s music seems to be a flavour of the month, and though
one must congratulate him for following in the footsteps of those 1970s
and 1980s musicians who attempted to fuse Scottish folk and new rhythms,
his experiments rarely result in much success. Smalls Street is
one of those times when he makes us stop and listen, and Jillian Thomson’s
performance is the one that came closest to genuine theatricality, echoing
the ways in which Scottish urban environment changed from a wondrous world
for a child to play in to a cluttered alienated space where one feels
frightened, and very much alone.
Another piece that needs to be mentioned is Ihayami where choreographer
Priya Sreekumar attempted to blend ancient art of Bharatanatyam with Scottish
new folk. The result was a curiously disjointed performance, ideologically
marred by seemingly unconscious references to western appropriation of
a different culture in order to allude to its own multiculturality. Contrary
to that, Wallace Sulley’s performance in Innit Innat was
reassuringly refreshing, pointing at a first-rate dancer who shows great
understanding of both old and new, and the ability to transcend and create
something inventive and tongue-in-cheek.
Off Kilter ended on an up note, with all dancers gathering in one big
party on the stage, cheered merrily by the bulk of the audience, but one
wonders whether there was much to party about, given the fact that the
evening chose to sit comfortably at the foot of the wall called internationalism,
rather than break it, or at least scale over it.
© Ksenija Horvat 2 April 2004 - Published on EdinburghGuide.com
Dancers: Matt Foster, Vincent Hantqam, Tara
Hodgson, Merav Israel, Kally Lloyd-Jones, Caroline Reagh, Seona Elise
Robinson, Sarah Ruijs Slifer, Priya Sreekumar, Wallace Sulley, Jillian
Thomson.
Tour Details of Dance Base's production of Off
Kilter.
Tour begins
27 March at 8pm. Stirling
macRobert 01786 466666.
31 March at 8pm Inverness Eden Court Theatre 01463 234234.
2 April at 7:30pm Edinburgh Festival Theatre 0131 529 6000.
Tour ends
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