Unsung

Rex Levitates are talking to themselves. When so much dance boasts that it is about international dialogue, a fusion of forms that take the tentative steps towards 'new' dance, Unsung goes back to roots. Using sean nos - achingly beautiful traditional Irish singing that seems to lament and regale in the same breath - it recreates the pub session as a formal contemporary dance, unearthing received ideas of Irishness and referencing folk jams and classical ballet with the lightest of touches. It begins with a solo voice: soon the musicians join in, with a tight, rigorous canter. The dancers sit, stand and begin to move, weaving themselves together, pausing to let the music lead before leading the music with increasingly energetic coupling. A double duet of two men and two women, it suggests a tale of friendship and companionship, occasionally dwindling on romantic passion. As time moves on, the musicians relax into freer forms, loosing the minimalist austerity for a looser swing. The dancers are entangled: when they sit and simply grasp each other's hands in multiple combinations, it is poignant. Matthew Hawkins, choreographer and teacher, noted that this echoes the famous Dance of the Cygnets from Swan Lake; yet it stands alone as an image of connection and love, just like Unsung itself.