Dance Base Presents
Three more shows with three great companies: Dance Base delivers value and quality
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Another triple bill from the over-generous dance house, this time showcasing Scottish, Norwegian and Icelandic work, exploring the more melancholic sides of dance.
Crazy in love with MR PERFECT is a duet, slightly too long, but cleverly alternating between conversation and dance – the Piath finale is technical and emotional overwhelming. Exploring the problems of finding the right man, it offers no solutions but presents the obsessions and foibles of a man and a woman with compassion and detail. A fine example of how dance can mesh with dialogue to really examine a topic – and love comes naturally to dance, it seems – this is a heart-warming start to an increasingly melancholic programme.
X Factor Dance Company – a one of Scotland’s longest running contemporary groups – are grave and thoughtful in Unspoken. Another duet, its autumnal, elegiac mood is unfortunately broken by an entertaining yet inappropriate drag interlude. While this mock spiritualist meeting is very funny, it undermines the elegant mourning of the surrounding pieces. Evocative of the drowned man it remembers, Unspoken is serious, the stark lighting especially effective and the tone – for two thirds, at least – serene and respectful.
In time and it will snow from Winter Guests is short and precise. Taking journal entries from a terminally ill patient, it is a discreet duet that gradually fades away, perfectly capturing the sadness and resignation of the patient. Unflashy, mournful and eloquent, it also captures a mood through the weaving of words and movement – a quiet celebrate of life even in death.
Apart from the generosity of the programme – three shows – the quality of Dance Base’s triple bill is, again, superb.