Free Run @ Udderbelly Pasture

First and foremost, a little detour for a history lesson. Free Running - a term often used interchangeably with 'parkour' - is also known as the 'art of movement'. It involves running across a cityscape, jumping over obstacles (like walls), across roofs, and performing impressive gymnastic acrobatics as well. In case you hadn't noticed, this is an outdoor activity.

As well as some very healthy human beings, however, Free Running has also produced an entire philosophy which explores the relationship between a human being and his environment. As human beings, we modify our environment to our needs and rarely pause to consider what impact our urban environment has on us. What emotions, thoughts and behaviours do these surroundings inflict on our state of being? Free Running is not just a sport then, it is an art, or, as 3RUN say, a "way of life".

So, how does the show Free Run work? Well, Free Running itself incorporates - aside from the actual running - a lot of explosive acrobatics, like flips and handstands. 3RUN themselves admit that "it was a challenge. Taking an outdoor thing and putting it indoors, we have to choreograph a little more". Indeed, it's evident from the performance itself that an enclosed space is limiting.

The venue? Udderbelly Pasture, which, on the inside holds an amphitheatrical shape, and is tightly packed today. The set is simple, consisting of a low vault, two trapezoids and a cuboid frame of metallic pipes. Of course, within seconds, I decide that it's too small. As the lights go out, the announcer warns us to keep our hands, legs, and possessions to ourselves as the performance extends to the aisles and behind the back row as well. Reminder to self: never underestimate a Free Runner (or traceur, as they are known in French).

The music begins. Free Run does not only involve live performance, but also video footage with an array of special effects. Well-built, masculine figures rush across the stage and disappear into the darkness of the wings. The audience is instantly wowed by the acrobatics, which actually makes me a little sad.

Though the performers clearly work hard to achieve the dynamics of leaping and flipping in a smaller space - indeed 3RUN have been Free Running professionally for 8 years - this is a performance that seems caged-in. I admire the brilliance of the idea of bringing the outdoor discipline of parkour to the stage. Yet it instantly subtracts the most important element: freedom. As 3RUN put it quite rightly, "with Free Running there is no end, there is no limit".

As a concept, the show is somewhat fragmented. Free Running simply loses its freedom in a compact space, which is perhaps due to an unfortunate venue choice rather than a flaw of the performance itself. Even so, the sense of openness is gone and in the same way as breakdance and other urban dance forms have transformed from battles of self-expression into staged spectacles, Free Run becomes simply another stage show. Yet, overall, as performance, the show is exciting and flamboyant, with high energy flowing throughout as the boys and one woman reveal the beauty of a body playing around our built environment.