Ousia

For some Fringe-goers, Out of the Blue @ The Drill Hall might be a little off the beaten track, but it’s worth making the effort to see Ousia. An art installation as much as a piece of dance, this solo is performed not onstage but inside a white-walled box, sealed with a window through which the audience can watch and engage. The dancer is trapped - physically, mentally or both – and we are unable to help as we watch her self-destruct. The audience are seated in their own intimate white space. While this doesn’t feel claustrophobic it does mean that we are absorbed into the event to the extent of becoming part of it. Everything is part of the installation – audience, set, dancer and lighting. Johnston plays with light and space, using projections and subverting theatrical conventions. Ousia premiered earlier this year, and 2009 is also the centenary year of Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, a phenomenally influential company that pioneered cross-disciplinary collaborations. It is fitting, then, that Ousia continues this trend. Watching Ousia is like watching a picture being painted. It doesn’t simply combine dance and visual art, but turns dance into visual art.