EIF: Figures in Extinction @ Festival Theatre
Nederlands Dans Theater's EIF co-production with Complicité examines how artists, and by extension people, can meaningfully exist in the face of extinction and mortality.
Figures in Extinction is a dance show in three distinct parts. The main title refers to the first part, called ‘[1.0] the list’, which uses the human bodies of the ensemble to depict animals, plants and geographical phenomena lost to human actions. The show then moves through to ‘[2.0] but then you come to the humans’, which posits a methodical line of reasoning to examine modern Weltschmerz and helplessness in the face of extinction, the dancers moving in intricate patterns to illustrate the argumentative points. The final part is ‘[3.0] requiem’, which attempts to wrap itself around the unknowability of death, reaching narrative closure by opening up our ideas of what deadness is.
Figures in Extinction works best in its middle section, where the argumentative through-line is strongest and the dancers lip-sync their way through a hive-mind style of dance. All staging elements combine into the most astonishing dissection of the human condition, giving us something to do with the grief from the opening section.
'[3.0] requiem' is probably the weakest part conceptually; unlike the preceding sections, neither the agenda nor ramifications seem clear. However, it compensates with a beauty and emotion that is not prioritised in parts one and two. The choreography too is more grounded, as if trying to locate in reality the unknowability of death. As a triptych, the three sections make for a very well-rounded evening.
The sound design and compositions by Owen Belton and Benjamin Grant are exemplary, prioritising wildlife sounds and speech over music, thus forcing the audience to think about what they’re seeing and hearing, more than feeling it. The sound design also releases Crystal Pite's choreography from the diktat of tempo, therefore allowing for unpredictable and innovative movements to be made onstage, especially in 'the list' when the ensemble dances as animals (which is a skill in its own right). Tom Visser’s lighting is supremely stylish, framing the dancers with high contrasts and the strange ability to hide the dancer’s face whilst showing their body: another tactic to make the audience think.
Figures in Extinction, Festival Theatre, run ended