Dance of The Magnetic Ballerina @ Traverse

Review by Cian O’Siochain | 06 Mar 2015

From an achromatic gloom, the figure of Andrea Miltnerova materialises, on a contained platform adrift in the middle of the enormous Traverse One stage. Evoking the figurine ubiquitous to innumerable trinket boxes, she moves spasmodically in staccato time to the pulsing electronic soundtrack.

The actions suggest a marionette, manipulated by some unseen puppeteer, but her human physicality stands out from the rippling muscles on her shoulders, arms and neck. The exertions of rehearsal and performance are written on her body and hint at the breathtaking dexterity and muscular acuity to which the audience will be treated in the following 35 minutes.

Although Andrea is the sole performer in the piece, the sound and lighting design are equal stars of the show. A deeply infectious soundtrack syncs with and accentuates dizzying fluctuations in light, darkness via all shades between, weaving a hypnotic canvas on which Andrea can physically paint her images. Evocations of human experience – from the spiritual to the physical – occupy the production and carry the audience along, enthralled despite the absence of a defined storyline.

Dance of the Magnetic Ballerina is at times a disorientating experience, laced with flashes of a phantasmagorical nature. Although a performance of this kind might not be to the taste of every theatregoer, it challenges anyone not to be wholly drawn into the mesmerising, ethereal world of the ballerina.


The Skinny at Manipulate Festival 2015:


Read our coverage of Manipulate at theskinny.co.uk/theatre

Dance of The Magnetic Ballerina, Traverse, Edinburgh, run ended. http://www.manipulatefestival.org