Grupo Corpo @ Festival Theatre

They say that Brazil is a melting pot, and the Brazilian contemporary dance company Grupo Corpo is no exception. The two pieces that they bring to the Festival, Parabelo and Onqoto, feature choreography that is eclectic to the extreme, with clear influences from numerous cultures and dance forms. The swinging arms, swaying hips, and samba footwork of Parabelo are interspersed with difficult, impressive steps drawn from classical ballet, such as the saut de basque-jete-saut de basque-jete sequence.

The folk-dance inspired trios, with their interlocking, windmilling arms and simple, square steps, are juxtaposed with a group of neon-coloured torsos rippling and undulating in a manner to rival Shakira. And the hip hop/funk inspired section of Onqoto, which features the dancers confidently stepping out syncopated rhythms with their hands on their hips, vies with slow, develop in parallel, embodying the control and subtelty of modern dance, for the attention of the audience.

Somehow, in the midst of all this variety, a clear, core style emerges: one that is quite classical for a contemporary company, but with broken lines: flailing limbs, flexed feet and heads that hinge right back on the neck. Using these characteristics, a core movement vocabulary is created and repeated throughout, making the otherwise diverse choreography look tiresomely similar, even across the two pieces. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the movements are so notably unique that we notice when they are repeated more than we do with, say, the steps of classical ballet, which are not the trademark style of one company, and to which we’ve become accustomed.

Two sections stand out from the rest by virtue of their interesting, novel choreography, inspired by unusual concepts. Parabelo features a beautiful, soft, balletic pas de deux in which the woman never supports her own weight, even when touching the floor. The man carefully lifts and places her in various orientations, her lithe body never stopping its movement, until she steps slowly offstage, still sustained by her attentive partner. Onqoto features an equally inventive section with the exact opposite feel. A couple carry out a pas de deux completely on the floor, jumping or being thrown from one sexual position to the next with jerky, almost violent movements, expressing an act of emotionally detached, disconnected sex.

As for the rest of the performance, I recognise that it is very good. The dancers are thoroughly competent. The choreography, despite being slightly repetitious, has a unique, fresh style. But somehow, it doesn’t capture my attention. With the plethora of performances — many of them very good, some of them excellent — that is the Festival, a show that is normally very good becomes mediocre. Grupo Corpo’s performance lacks an intellectually inventive concept, as displayed by Colette Sadler’s Musical, a really powerful atmosphere, as created by Lemi Ponifasio’s Birds with Skymirrors, or a theme that reaches straight to the heart of the audience, as featured by Grid Iron’s Decky Does a Bronco. Normally I enjoy pure dancing, without the hindrance of a story or an elaborate concept, but for pure dancing to excel at the Festival, it has to be absolutely top notch: a designation which, unfortunately, Grupo Corpo comes just shy of attaining.

But the dancers do have an excellent sense of rhythm and a joyous quality to their dancing… another Brazillian stereotype, perhaps, but also one that Grupo Corpo proves to be true. And perhaps I’ve just seen too many performances in quick succession: the rapturous appause of the rest of the audience certainly puts my harsh opinion in the minority.